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The unfortunate parallel, I’m afraid, only came in
handy for local media (on which lustration has never been
implemented) to place it as another, new evidence confirming that
Serbia was “the victim of an unfair attack” in 1999 - as if Vukovar,
Sarajevo, Kosovo exodus and genocide in Srebrenica have occurred on
another continent or another planet, and as if the NATO is the only
one to be blamed for the deaths of sixteen RTS employees.
As I’m certain this was not your true intention, I
would like to draw your attention to the facts as follows (I
addressed them more in detail in the book, titled “Silence in
Aberdareva Street” the topic whereof deals with the RTS bombing ):
1) Even though the RTS was designated to be the system of strategic
importance for the country much before the war - that is, according
to the Government orders and the General Plan of Defence - it should
have been relocated to an alternative place under war conditions -
still, this has not happened; all the more, it was the only system
that continued to operate as if it were peacetime conditions (and
despite the NATO announcement that the RTS is considered a
legitimate military target!); 2) Even though Milosevic and his
Headquarters were notified of forthcoming attack from several
different sources, they obviously had no interest to remove people;
3) Soon after the announcement by the NATO spokesman that RTS will
be attacked - by the order of the RTS director, the night shift
personnel was doubled even though, according to the regulations, it
should have been substantially reduced; 4) save for technical,
support staff, not a single journalist was killed in the RTS attack;
all Milosevic's state propagandists came out alive, free of any
consequences, except the director, Dragoljub Milanovic, that was
subsequently sentenced to 10-year imprisonment; the very same
directors and editors immediately made exclusive footage of
demolished RTS building and sent that image to the world, because
this was their goal; some of them appeared beside the destroyed
building only a few minutes after the attack, which means that they
waited nearby (the building was attacked at exactly 2:06 a.m.
Central European Time).
If I were you, dear Mr. Chomsky, I would, first of
all, ask myself whether I would receive the decoration awarded by
Tomislav Nikolic himself, the current President of Serbia. Even
more, since the referred Nikolic was a member of the TV Board of
Directors during the RTS bombing and, as set by the General Plan of
Defence, he had to ask the Ministry of Defense to give an urgent
explanation about the reasoning behind the never-realized evacuation
and relocation of the Television to an alternative place of work. In
addition, I would also give it a lot of thought whether I would make
a generalized, non-binding parallel next time, like the one you made
between a single sudden terrorist act and the announced violation of
Geneva Convention (which the RTS bombing certainly was); RTS in
those days was standing much closer to the notorious Rwanda Radio
station that invoked genocide than to the innocent editorial offices
of a French satirical magazine. In this way, you not only support a
Milanovic that quite intentionally pinned a target on his employees,
while stating today to be Charlie Hebdo himself, but you give an
opportunity to retrograding forces to review history and their
shameful role in it.
You may find additional information in herein
enclosed book. In addition, I hereby attach the text written by Ms.
Stojanovic, the mother of one of the victims, that was published
after a propaganda campaign that followed the publication of your
parallel you made between the RTS and Charlie Hebdo.
Sincerely,
Zoran Janić, writer
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