The Small Truck Robbery

Information of the attack on the truck bearing Bijeljina registration plates, which was transporting equipment for ITV "Studio B", is still a topic of interest among the public; the motives and perpetrators of the attack are being assessed as political and criminal, and there are some who doubt that the whole thing ever happened. The whole affair, as we learned from ITV "Studio B" director Dragan Kojadinovic, resembled something out of a film. The truck crossed the Yugoslav-Hungarian border at Horgos. Only one kilometer after the border it was overtaken by two cars which then staged a crash. After this, unknown attackers drugged the drivers and went off with the truck. The kidnapped drivers came to after five days in a cellar in the vicinity of Indjija, and somehow managed to reach Belgrade.

The "International Media Fund" from Washington gave the money for ITV's new equipment. Kojadinovic says that a remittance of 236,000 dollars was made to Great Britain before the introduction of sanctions. After ITV turned to Yugoslav Prime Minister Milan Panic for help, the UN committee for overseeing the implementation of sanctions allowed the import. The equipment was bought at "Sony's" London store and "Jugoslavija Komerc" was chosen to be the importer.

"'Jugoslavija Komerc' has worked with "Sony" for a long time, and we had confidence in the firm because of its great experience in similar transactions," said Kojadinovic.

There were no barriers. Apart from the value of the equipment, the import gained in importance, because, since the introduction of sanctions, such goods had not crossed the border. The rules are very strict and clear. Six months ago, Radio TV Serbia (RTS) admitted that they were in a tight spot as far as equipment was concerned. In the meantime new TV houses have cropped up in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Krajina. They have transmitters and repeaters, but they do not have sufficient studio equipment and the RTS cannot give them any, let alone import new equipment.

It must be said that ITV's stolen equipment (three cameras, ten monitors, cables and other accompanying technology) were to be used in ITV's new studio. ITV's program policy is well known and the theft of the equipment has taken on a political dimension.

"A month ago friends warned us that we would never get the equipment," said Kojadinovic. "There was talk of sabotage on the road or in the customs warehouse. The threat was repeated fifteen days ago, and we insisted that the customs be carried out in Belgrade. We never thought of ensuring an armed escort, and left the whole matter of transport to the importer. We just did not believe that 'Chicago laws' were in force here. However..."

The stolen equipment was important for ITV, but they will get along without it. The loss will not affect ITV's viewing rates, but what they do not need desperately, others do. It is indicative that on the same day ITV reported the attack, Serbian TV said that a "group of citizens from Vojvodina had made a present of TV equipment to 'Channel S'." The information was later denied, and it was learned that the equipment was intended for "Radio Trebinje." Belgrade is rife with rumors that a mysterious transport arrived at the RTS building under heavy police security.

The whole incident abounds in vagueness and understatements. It is also not certain that the goods crossed the border at all. Head of customs in Subotica Dragan Ivetic claims that "he does not know the real situation, because there is no evidence in writing". He does, however, allow for the possibility that the equipment could have entered the country with other goods or with different papers. The attack, if there was one, was done so professionally that the possibility of "an ordinary highway robbery" is excluded. The staging of a crash only one kilometer after the border crossing, the kidnapping and doping of the driver and transport firm's representative, and the disappearance into thin air of the goods, all point to an exceptionally good organization. The attackers must have had precise information about the truck, time and place where it would cross the border.

"I think the matter concerns a spectacular robbery carried out by a big organization, and the whole action is politically covered," said well known criminologist Vladan Vasilijevic. "We have criminal organizations capable of pulling off any job. If TV Novi Sad's information of a 'present from a group of citizens' is true, it is clear that the Serbian Republic in Bosnia-Herzegovina Government is responsible, with the blessing of the Serbian Government. Everybody knows that Serbia controls the customs, and members of 'special forces' from Krajina can often be seen at the border crossings. It is possible that the truck did not cross the border at the official crossing, or that an order arrived that nothing was to be recorded - we must remember the arms smuggling in Croatia in 1991."

The importer "Jugoslavija Komerc" engaged "Kantor", a private transport firm, and their representative was in the truck with the driver. If what they told "Jugoslavija Komerc" director Dusan Lakovic is to be believed, the two men were drugged for five days and woke up in a cellar not far from Indjija. The attack was carried out in the night between December 18 and 19, but came to light on December 25 when the two men came to Lakovic. It is hard to find an answer to the question why no one even tried to look for the missing truck during that period, because Lakovic and the two men do not wish to make statements. Kojadinovic says: "That was a very busy period at the border crossings because the Christmas holidays were just starting and the truck drivers were on strike. We were occupied with elections here. That is why no one was particularly disturbed because the truck was late, especially since we knew that the driver had been to Budapest before, and would stay there for three days. Even the wife of the transport firm's representative was not too worried."

The police in Subotica, Belgrade, the republican and federal police are not talking. Bogoljub Lazic of the Belgrade police said: "We have undertaken certain steps in this case, but no information can be given without the approval of the Interior Ministry Information Service." It follows that all those who know something are keeping quiet. Some unanswered questions remain: what were the men drugged with; is there any medical evidence; in whose cellar did the men wake up; who knew about the transport; was the transport insured; who knew about the time and place where the border would be crossed...?"

Kojadinovic does not wish to go into details. His TV house entrusted the import to "Jugoslavija Komerc", which is obliged to pay damages if the equipment is not found. This, however, will be very difficult in the economic and legal jungle currently in force.

The whole issue is very fishy. Of numerous speculations three stand out: according to the least probable version, ITV was forced to hand over its equipment to "patriotic stations," while claims of a spectacular attack are an explanation reserved for foreign partners. The second scenario concerns ordinary criminal activities. The third scenario involves state condoned crime - the protection of a monopoly on information by engaging those capable of carrying out such actions.

It is feared that such actions could become the usual practice. Within this context Vasilijevic says: "This case, considering the nature of the goods and the circumstances known so far, points to the high degree of crime in official politics. It has lately become popular to talk of Masonic lodges which are being blamed for both the creation and the disintegration of Yugoslavia. If we accept such a thesis, it is clear that the Masons have been replaced here by new 'Socialist lodges', which rally people who are usually on the wrong side of the law. Taking advantage of the current situation, they have placed themselves above the law. I think that this is the beginning of total lawlessness and that we will soon be faced with much more difficult cases."