Đinđić widow, govt. condemn Šešelj comments

The widow of late PM Zoran Djindjic has condemned Vojislav Seselj’s comments comparing her husband's assassin Zvezdan Jovanovic to Gavrilo Princip. Ruzica Djindjic said that Seselj’s comments were confirmation that the murder had been politically motivated. Djindjic widow, govt. condemn Seselj comments “Those remarks have done more damage to Seselj himself and his party because that is a political statement and a political qualification of what happened to my husband,“ said Djindjic. “For the last five years, we’ve insisted that it was a political assassination and a political crime, and statements like this merely prove it. So, for us, that is a confirmation of what he thought of his opponent, while what happened to my husband is confirmation of such thoughts and opinions,“ she said. Her comments come a day after the government too, in its final days, unanimously condemned Seselj’s remarks condoning Djindjic's murder. In response to the comments by the Serb Radical Party (SRS) leader and Hague accused, Democratic Party (DS) Vice-President Dragan Sutanovac asked Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica whether he and his Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) considered Zvezdan Jovanovic to be a hero. Kostunica reacted immediately, while Youth and Sport Minister Snezana Markovic-Samardzic said that all the DSS’s officials had condemned the statement. Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said that at yesterday’s cabinet meeting, called at the DS’s initiative, the government had “unanimously condemned the scandalous statements by Vojislav Seselj made on May 21 in The Hague, in which he praised the murderer of the late prime minister." “The act is scandalous, shameful, and it is good that the government unanimously and vehemently condemned that statement,” Djelic told a press conference following the meeting. Djelic said that the prime minister had also backed the DS’s initiative. Samardzic-Markovic of the G17 Plus party confirmed to B92 that all the DSS's ministers and Kostunica had condemned the statement. She wondered how it was possible for the DSS leader to talk with the SRS regarding the formation of a coalition when its leader expressed such views. During cross-examination at his trial at the Hague Tribunal, the SRS leader said that Zvezdan Jovanovic, convicted of Djindjic’s murder, deserved “the same glory as Gavrilo Princip in Serbian history.” Jovanovic was sentenced to 40 years behind bars for the crime. As expected, the SRS stated that there was nothing contentious about the statements. “Everything Seselj says at the Hague Tribunal are things that will be recorded in our new history, the fight of one man against order, and above all, for those who want him to pave the way for the respect, first and foremost, of international law,” said SRS official Natasa Jovanovic. “I am watching very closely, as are millions of Serbian citizens, and I am in awe at the way Seselj is able to, through his arguments, wind down the trial being led against him,” she said. Ruzica Djindjic (FoNet, archive)

Đinđić widow, govt. condemn Šešelj comments

“Those remarks have done more damage to Šešelj himself and his party because that is a political statement and a political qualification of what happened to my husband,“ said Đinđić.

“For the last five years, we’ve insisted that it was a political assassination and a political crime, and statements like this merely prove it. So, for us, that is a confirmation of what he thought of his opponent, while what happened to my husband is confirmation of such thoughts and opinions,“ she said.

Her comments come a day after the government too, in its final days, unanimously condemned Šešelj’s remarks condoning Đinđić's murder.

In response to the comments by the Serb Radical Party (SRS) leader and Hague accused, Democratic Party (DS) Vice-President Dragan Šutanovac asked Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica whether he and his Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) considered Zvezdan Jovanović to be a hero.

Koštunica reacted immediately, while Youth and Sport Minister Snežana Marković-Samardžić said that all the DSS’s officials had condemned the statement.

Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić said that at yesterday’s cabinet meeting, called at the DS’s initiative, the government had “unanimously condemned the scandalous statements by Vojislav Šešelj made on May 21 in The Hague, in which he praised the murderer of the late prime minister."

“The act is scandalous, shameful, and it is good that the government unanimously and vehemently condemned that statement,” Đelić told a press conference following the meeting.

Đelić said that the prime minister had also backed the DS’s initiative.

Samardžić-Marković of the G17 Plus party confirmed to B92 that all the DSS's ministers and Koštunica had condemned the statement. She wondered how it was possible for the DSS leader to talk with the SRS regarding the formation of a coalition when its leader expressed such views.

During cross-examination at his trial at the Hague Tribunal, the SRS leader said that Zvezdan Jovanović, convicted of Đinđić’s murder, deserved “the same glory as Gavrilo Princip in Serbian history.”

Jovanović was sentenced to 40 years behind bars for the crime.

As expected, the SRS stated that there was nothing contentious about the statements.

“Everything Šešelj says at the Hague Tribunal are things that will be recorded in our new history, the fight of one man against order, and above all, for those who want him to pave the way for the respect, first and foremost, of international law,” said SRS official Nataša Jovanović.

“I am watching very closely, as are millions of Serbian citizens, and I am in awe at the way Šešelj is able to, through his arguments, wind down the trial being led against him,” she said.