Written by Ag Apolloni
A few days ago, a stupid exhibition happened that provoked protests. It was an exhibition based on a monograph about the massacres in Kosovo. The huge wave of outrage that reacted forced the compiler to admit the mistake and apologize. Errare humanum est.
However, the reactionaries, as soon as they sensed that not only the exhibition, but also the writing and promotion of the book had been encouraged and supported by the Government, took a stand against the book, the compiler and the current government. So, the Prosecution intervened, and this was the second stupidity. The justification for this intervention was based on Article 141 of the Criminal Code of Kosovo: “Whoever publicly incites or spreads hatred, discord and intolerance between national, racial, religious, ethnic and other groups, or based on sexual orientation, gender identity and other personal characteristics, in a manner that may disrupt public order is punished with a fine or imprisonment for up to five (5) years”. As you can see, according to this article, many politicians, analysts, journalists, and users of social networks and other 'online' channels should already be in prison. It would make more sense if the raid were carried out under Article 124 (for espionage) rather than under this article (Inciting discord and intolerance), since the compiler had used Serbian sources and, thus, had distorted the facts in favor of the aggressor party.
However, there was no need for a police spectacle.
After these two stupidities (the exhibition and the police intervention), comes the third, as a cap to the stupidity, through evil. The intellectual Fatos Lubonja, for the sake of friendship with the organizer of the exhibition, who is also the compiler of the monograph, positions himself against the truth, saying that the truth about the massacres is not absolute and that alternatives like this one of this monograph/exhibition should be abandoned: "If Kosovar society aspires to democracy and the rule of law, it must bear in mind that history teaches us that tragedy, in the form of war or dictatorship, begins when the parties identify themselves with the truth and seek to impose it on everyone by any means; that to avoid this, we must seek the truth (not impose it) through the confrontation of the experiences and interpretations of all parties, for what is more important than the truth is the freedom of all these parties and equality before the law."
How can an intellectual express himself like this about a specific case, when his friend himself has admitted the mistakes? So, the compiler/organizer says I was wrong, but this one shows him that it is not a question of a mistake, but of an alternative interpretation. It turns out that facts are more stubborn than manipulative words.
I, in a way, excuse the organizer, because to err is human, but I do not excuse his defender, because the Latin phrase I quoted above was only half, while the full one looks like this: Errare humanum est, perseverare diabolicum (to err is human, to persist is diabolical). Lubonja insists on continuing that mistake.
A saying attributed to Aristotle says: I have Plato as a friend, but I love the truth more.
Unfortunately, Lubonja overturned this sentence.
t7 live
