Written by: Bardhyl Mahmuti
In order to understand the connection between the Serbian Secret Service and the prosecutors of the political process taking place in The Hague, I need to explain to the reader the role of Milovan Drecuni and the Serbian Working Group in guiding the prosecutors engaged in the Specialized Prosecutor's Office.
In order to fully understand this role, I must first briefly inform the reader about some facts related to Milovan Drecuni, who is often referred to in our media as "chairman of the Serbian Parliamentary Commission for Kosovo".
On 1 July 2009, the Association of Independent Journalists of Serbia filed a lawsuit with the War Crimes Court in Serbia against journalists from Radio Television Belgrade, Radio Television Novi Sad, as well as journalists from the newspapers Politika, Večernje Novosti and all those who served the war propaganda during the breakup of the Yugoslav Federation. Through this lawsuit, the Association of Independent Journalists of Serbia accused the journalists who served this propaganda of manipulating the media with the aim of spreading inter-ethnic and inter-religious hatred, inciting discrimination and hostility, thereby creating the psychological preconditions for violence and the most brutal crimes.
For this reason, this association requested that the War Crimes Court in Serbia, in accordance with Article 145 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, punish these journalists for the criminal offense of organizing and inciting the commission of genocide and war crimes.
Among the journalists who were indicted for media manipulation in order to incite crimes in Kosovo, the Association of Independent Journalists of Serbia also accused Milovan Dracuni, a journalist covering military and political affairs at Radio Television of Serbia.
This fact is extremely significant, because the lawsuit was filed by the Association of Independent Journalists of Serbia!
In order for the reader to have a clear idea of what “journalism” is, I would like to mention another fact. For their merits in inciting the commission of genocide against Albanians during the war in Kosovo, Milovan Drecun and the cameraman of the Serbian Radio and Television, Tomislav Magoči, were decorated by Colonel General Nebojša Pavković on April 27, 1999. Milovan Drecun and Tomislav Magoči were the only journalists to be decorated by the commander of the Third Yugoslav Army, who led the implementation of the genocidal plan against Albanians in Kosovo.
For the reader who does not know who Nebojša Pavković is, I will only mention the fact that he was wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for four criminal offenses committed during the war in Kosovo: deportations, forced displacement, murder and persecution.
On April 25, 2005, he was handed over to international authorities to face justice. In February 2009, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
The accusation of the Association of Independent Journalists of Serbia for media manipulation in order to incite crimes, for spreading interethnic and interreligious hatred, as well as for inciting discrimination and hostility had no consequences for Milovan Drecuni. On the contrary, in the 2012 elections, he became a deputy of the People's Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and was appointed chairman of the "Parliamentary Commission of Serbia for Kosovo"!
It was precisely this "journalist" of Radio Television of Serbia, decorated by the commander of the Third Army of Yugoslavia, which committed crimes in Kosovo, Colonel General Nebojša Pavković, who was put in charge of the Serbian Working Group, which prepared evidence for the Specialist Prosecutor's Office in The Hague.
A month before the indictment was confirmed and Jakup Krasniqi, Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi were arrested, Milovan Drecuni was invited to the show titled "The one-way journey from Pristina to The Hague begins", on TV Happy. During the conversation with journalists from "TV Happy", Milovan Drecuni, on behalf of the Serbian Working Group, speaks disparagingly about the team of prosecutors working with Chief Prosecutor David Swendiman, who did not know the circumstances in which the events had occurred, did not know in which direction to conduct the investigations. In this context, Milovan Drecuni publicly claims that the Serbian Working Group has contributed a lot, in giving them the right direction and showing the prosecutors in which direction to conduct the investigations.
He says he directed them towards the issue of illegal detention centers because "it was easier for them to testify about crimes through these illegal centers. We gave them:
– the full list of 159 detention centers that our services have identified, of which 6 were in northern Albania;
– the names of those who created these centers;
– people who have mistreated people, who have killed them, who have massacred them, raped them (we have many cases of raped women)…”
And for the work he has done, Milovan Drecuni declares: "Since the first phase, I have received gratitude from Chief Prosecutor Swendiman. The gratitude was even handwritten, which is unusual, because it was clear that we had helped them a lot to see in what direction they should develop the investigations."
Imagine what a paradoxical situation we have found ourselves in: the criminal Milovan Drecun, who was directly involved in inciting crimes against Albanians in Kosovo and against whom the Association of Independent Journalists of Serbia had filed an indictment, has determined for the Kosovo Special Prosecutor's Office in what direction it should conduct its investigations!
Therefore, the proposal of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for a sentence of 45 years of imprisonment for Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi is a logical proposal in accordance with the direction set by the Serbian Secret Service for the representatives of the Kosovo liberation war to never return to Pristina, which is summarized in Miroslav Drecuni's statement "The one-way trip from Pristina to The Hague begins." This proposal confirmed the concerns that American diplomat James Rubin publicly expressed a few months ago about the bias and prejudiced approach of some judges in the trial where he was a witness for Hashim Thaçi's defense.
Faced with the risk that politics will prevail over justice, I invite all Albanians who are able to come to Pristina and march together to "Skënderbeu Square" in Pristina in support of those who are unjustly held behind bars.
t7 live
