Đinđić cabinet JSO transcripts fake?

Đinđić cabinet JSO transcripts fake?

Former Deputy Prime Minister in the Đinđić cabinet and Social Democratic Union (SDU) leader Žarko Korać said that an obvious manipulation was at work, and that Đinđić’s words as NIN presented them were "completely misinterpreted".

B92 has tried to obtain information from Government’s Seceretary General Dejan Mihajlov and find out whether the minutes were tagged as confidential, and if they were, who gave permission to remove secrecy and for what purpose. Unfortunately, Mihajlov was not available.

In the middle of a heated election campaign three years ago, Mihajlov issued a statement saying that the prime minister was murdered by his closest associates. Two years ago, however, Mihajlov stated before a court that what he had said was a part of pre-election political debate, admitting his claim was baseless.

The indictment issued in 2003 against the JSO members accused of organizing and executing Đinđić’s murder mentioned the Unit’s rebellion as the beginning of creating a background in which the prime minister was assassinated.

The Đinđić family lawyers have asked for a separate procedure to investigate what led to the JSO rebellion as a way of determining the political background of the assassination.

The weekly cited Đinđić’s alleged portrayal of the JSO from the November 11, 200, cabinet session where he referred to them as “a typical public enterprise, with specific tools they use for work,” thus implying that he looked at the mutiny in the same manner as Koštunica.

Koštunica said at the time “that teachers and doctors protested in their clothes, while soldiers protested in uniforms,” which was seen as apologetic of the unprecedented event.

When the mutiny began, Zoran Đinđić was on the official visit to the United States. As soon as he returned to Belgrade he addressed the media saying that he had no understanding for such an act:

“I believe that employees in the state services should not dabble in politics. There is a ministry within the government authorized to deal with it. If they are not satisfied with the government’s policy, they may as well resign and look for another job,” Đinđić said at the time.

“Bearing in mind that they never questioned the legality and justifiability of orders they received in the past 10 years, I believe they have chosen the worst and most unconvincing moment possible to come to their senses and discuss politics, demanding the resignation of the interior minister.”
“I would advise them to turn to their own jobs and do it professionally,” Đinđić concluded.

Korać confirmed that Đinđić had a good grasp on the rebellion and the support Koštunica allegedly offered to the JSO. Korać also claims the part of the government session of which NIN published transcripts, did not enter records at Đinđić’s request.

“At one point, Đinđić decided for the session to go off the record, stopping the sound and written recordings, and then we led a more casual discussion,” he said.

“Đinđić was fully aware of the situation. It is yet another proof of how smart he was, as if he knew that someday those records could be manipulated ,” Korać argued.

It remains to be seen whether the published transcripts are authentic.

Batić, Jovanović announce lawsuits against Mihajlov, NIN

Vladan Batić, Justice Minister in the Đinđić government and Demo-Christian Party of Serbia (DHSS) leader, said Saturday he would sue Dejan Mihajlov and NIN editor-in-chief Slobodan Reljić for falsely presenting his statements from the transcripts published in the latest edition of the weekly.

At the same time, he called on Special Organized Crime Prosecutor Slobodan Radovanović to explain his presence at the pre-election convention of Koštunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) held on December 4, 2006.

“A political alignment with a party annuls any possibility for Slobodan Radovanović to remain the special prosecutor, since it explains the selective approach he apllies in handling bankruptcy, road and tobacco mafia cases, and the political background of the Đinđić murder as well,” Batić said.

A day earlier, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said in a statement that it would also sue Mihajlović for providing NIN with false transcripts of the Đinđić government closed sessions dedicated to the JSO armed rebellion.

The statement went on to describe Mihajlov as “the backbone of Koštunica’s media clique for feeding false information to the news media and the public”, adding that the weekly was nothing more than a “prominent mafia weekly.”

“The aim of Mihajlov’s latest media campaign is to put Koštunica’s unequivocal expression of support for the JSO rebellion on a par with Đinđić’s alleged statements regarding the same issue, using fabricated transcripts,” the LDP stressed.

On the other hand, Reljić told Beta Friday that the authenticity of the contested shorthand minutes from the 61st and 62nd sessions of the Đinđić government held in November 2001 was checked before publishing.

Reljić claimed the notes were genuine, but did not say how the weekly obtained them.