Project “Be the Change – Make a Difference”

Book launch of “I Wasn't Howling With Wolves”

Photo: MC & CZKD

Belgrade, June 2, 2014

Tomislav Jakic, a famous Croatian journalist and foreign policy advisor to the former President of Croatia, Stjepan Mesic, visited Belgrade on June 2, 2014, in order to promote the second edition of his book, “I Wasn’t Howling With Wolves.” This book launch, which was organized by the NGOs Gariwo from Sarajevo and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, was part of the project “Be the Change – Make a Difference.”

The press conference was held at the Media Center in Belgrade during the afternoon of June 2, 2014, and the book launch, which was held at the Center for Cultural Decontamination, was in the evening of the same day. Speakers at this event included Seska Stanojlovic, Vice President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, Gradimir Gojer, director and writer, Amer Tikvesa, a journalist from Sarajevo, Svetlana Broz, Director of the NGO Gariwo, and Tomislav Jakic, journalist and author of the book. Copies of the book were distributed to the audience.

According to the author, this book is a testimony of one man about the people and situation of a specific period in time. As such, this book contains elements of autobiography, biography, and memoir. Three periods of Croatian history are analyzed in this book: the Independent State of Croatia, the Socialist Republic of Croatia, and the Republic of Croatia as an independent state after the collapse of Yugoslavia. Jakic, as a witness of those three periods, is able to give impartial arguments against Croatian revisionist tendencies. It is important to point out that this book is not only relevant to Croatia but also for the whole region. Equally important to his analysis of the history is the author’s promotion of civil courage. Specifically, he remained a professional journalist unaffiliated to any political party in the desire to avoid joining the “pack” of media wolves. On the contrary, Jakic had the strength to defend his right to an authentic opinion and to speak openly about Croatia’s relation to fascism.

About the author:

Tomislav Jakic was born in Zagreb in 1943. He graduated from the University of Law and started working as a journalist on TV Zagreb in 1966. He spent most of his career in the foreign policy section of this TV channel, and for some time he was also the chief editor of the informative programs. He stopped working as a TV journalist in 1992 because he did not want to accept the political dictatorship of the new political elite. However, he continued to work as a freelance journalist until 2001 when he became a foreign policy advisor of President Stjepan Mesic. Except for the period between the summer of 2003 and 2005, he remained in this position until the end of Mesic’s second mandate in 2010.

GALLERY:::