Issue 500 - July 20, 2001

While he was still incarcerated in the Military Prison on the indictment of abuse of position and accepting bribes, General-Lieutenant Colonel Zivorad Vujicic, former Chief of Finance in the Supreme Headquarters of the Yugoslav Army opted for a risky defense. In a letter he addressed to FRY President Vojislav Kostunica, dated May 14, he writes that "someone has set it for their objective for me to speak up which they will later use to their advantage," and for this reason I request audience in which "I can reveal certain facts, the majority of which are state secrets, in order that you can advise me what to do." General Vujicic concludes his letter by begging President Kostunica not to interpret his letter as a threat: he informs him that he authorized a lawyer to hold a press conference on May 22 and to "disclose the indictments against four generals, including Lieutenant General Nebojsa Pavkovic." Still, he hopes that all this will not be necessary "because of the reputation of the Yugoslav Army, the state, and You and Your position..."

A more rational reader of the state dailies would come up with the following result: 1) there was no crime, the terrorists were merely driven away, 2) there were some satellite pictures, god knows what they showed, the important thing being -they were forged, 3) the Muslims killed themselves, 4) previously provoked Serbs killed them, 5) the Dutch soldiers killed them, 6) some of those killed were "allegedly killed"

How was the truth on Srebrenica hidden despite all the information? A part of the answer lies in a certain kind of shame over all that had occurred, but also in some kind of national loyalty oath. Since all that had occurred had occurred, and it couldn´t be undone, the best thing is to deny it. That opinion is shared not only by the people who were witnesses or participants of the war but also by those who had absolutely nothing to do with the war or violence