Robin Hood in a Stocking-mask

Towards the end of the summer of 1991 the war in Serb Krajina, Eastern Slavonia and Western Srem was in full swing. With the lines of refugees streaming into Belgrade came ever more important reports of the political and war situation there. An information leaked out at the Belgrade-based Refugee Center that there was something wrong in the relationship between the then ultimate Krajina leader Milan Babic and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, which would reach a climax in the fight over the acceptance of the Vance plan. It was also hinted then that the then 31-year- old President of the municipality of Obrovac, Sergej Veselinovic, could be Babic's "successor". I only met Veselinovic a month and a half later in Krusevac, thanks to Aleksandar Andjelkovic, better known as Sasa the Bomb, who is from Krusevac, has a private firm in Belgrade and is a good friend of Sergej Veselinovic's.

Our recent meeting, again in Krusevac, has taken place thanks to the courtesy of the President of the Krusevac Municipal Court, Josif Djordjevic, and his fellow-colleague, Judge Ljubodrag Vukovic. We met in the Krusevac Investigative Prison, where Veselinovic who is now the former Minister of Culture and Religion in the Krajina Government and a member of the Bosnian-Serb Parliament is together with two other persons from Krajina awaiting to be tried on charges of physical coercion and extortion.

In the evening of June 19th four youths, some of whom wore the uniforms of the Krajina militia, broke into the flat of Slavisa Spasic, the owner of a private boutique in Krusevac. Using brute force, as the authorities had established, they demanded that Spasic gives them 97,000 DM, which he allegedly owed to a certain Tomislav Stefanovic from Lazarevac. Spasic's neighbours heard the cries for help, so that the police arrived soon. Besides Veselinovic, his friends Miladin Katanic and Branko Gajic were also arrested on the spot, while Nikola Stepanovic managed to run away.

"I hope that everything will be made clear in the hearing, and that the Judge will allow me to conduct my defense as a free man," Sergej Veselinovic said while talking to me under a watchful eye of the guard in the room for visitors of the Investigative Prison in Krusevac.

During the trial, his defense attorney will try to prove that Sergej Veselinovic and his friends had a noble intention to collect the debt on behalf of Tomislav Stevanovic, and give up their fee to Krajina. At the press conference, his lawyer Gradimir Moskovljevic presented him as Robin Hood of Krajina who takes from the unconscientious and gives to the poor, which is the state of Krajina in this case. The Criminal Council of the Municipal Court in Krusevac rejected a request of the defense that the Krajinians be released from custody, as they are charged with the classic enforcement of debt.

We also discussed the current political situation in Krajina. He explained that many things had changed in the meantime, that the situation is different from what it was before and in the beginning of the war. He also talked about his political career.

"Goran Hadzic first thought about giving me the mandate to form the Krajina Government. However, those who were close to the Socialists prevailed so that Bjegovic was given the mandate. I've heard that I am no longer a member of parliament. Only the Parliament can discharge you, but I hope that I'll be a free man before that happens."

In a gray jump-suit, and with his restless and frightened eyes, the former Krajina Minister, parliament member and President of the municipality of Obrovac, after whom a warrant of arrest has been issued in the Republic of Croatia, gives the impression of a youth who happens to be there by chance. Two years ago, smart-looking in a dark suit with a snow-white shirt and a tie, he resembled a gentlemen who knew what he was after. There were rumours then about the abuse and fraudulent handling by Milan Babic as well as about his despotic conduct, corruption of certain politicians from Krajina, expulsions of the disobedient and those who spoke their minds openly.

Sergej Veselinovic specifically addressed the alleged frauds perpetrated by Milan Babic, such as the case when over 80 luxurois vehicles (Audi 80) were taken off the train which was stopped in Knin at the very beginning of the Serb-Croatian conflict. Veselinovic listed the incidents and the names of prominent Serbs from Krajina who used the conflict to acquire wealth by looting both the Croat and the Serb property. It is up to the Court in Krusevac to decide whether all is about young Krajina politician's disappointment with the ideals of the fighting of the Serbian people in Krajina or about a specific kind of humanism. The hearing is due to take place on July 28th, when Judge Ljubodrag Vukovic is to decide whether Veselinovic and his friends will be released from custody, as Goran Hadzic has also petitioned among others.

If they are, there is a great likelihood that they will never appear before the Judge and the jury again.

"Slobodan" Sows the Seeds of Fear

It is an open secret that there is a number of agencies in Belgrade and throughout Serbia which are specialized in enforcing debts from those who tend to forget them. Immediately after the Krajina trio was arrested in Krusevac, another three "debt collectors" from Leskovac met with the same fate. This time, one member of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior and his two fellow-colleagues, who are retired, were supposed to force Radoslav Simic, the owner of the private company "Zvezda-komerc" from Krusevac to pay 14,000 DM. In addition, they demanded a fee of 3,000 DM for their effort. It is true that the owner of "Zvezda-komerc" had been warned several times that he should pay his debt. The Leskovac trio used to visit and threaten him frequently, when they introduced themselves as the detectives of the private agency "Slobodan."

In "happy times" when Dafina (the owner of the "Dafiment-bank", one of the two biggest private banks) used to pay enormous interest rates on the hard currency deposits, specific kinds of "solidarity" with the Serbs from Krajina were en vogue. Those who owned a large amount of hard currency used to be visited by elegant and well-mannered men, after it was learnt in a mysterious way how much money they had withdrawn from the "Dafiment-bank." They would explain to the person that they knew that he had received the money, and "asked" him to give up a large chunk, most often the entire amount, towards "the Serb cause in Krajina." In an off-handed manner, they would strongly recommend him not to risk denying their request, or, God forbid, reporting them to the police, as something bad could happen to him or to his family.