Det hjelper nok ikke disse menneskene at folk på "venstresida" i Norge ikke
tror de finnes.
Karsten Johansen
Fra Sunday Telegraph:
Bitter Belgrade vents its anger on
dissidents
By Branislava Milosevic
WITH Yugoslav troops retreating from Kosovo, President Slobodan Milosevic
has swiftly stepped up his campaign of intimidation against citizens who
opposed the war.
Serb dissidents have been detained and their houses raided over the past week
even while military negotiations have been under way between Yugoslav and
Nato generals. Thousands of youths have been rounded up in a wave of mass
conscription. Among those arrested were members of the so-called Citizens'
Parliament, an organisation founded in May by residents of the opposition-ruled
town of Cacak to call for democracy and an end to the war.
Cacak, south-west of Belgrade and under the administration of the Zajedno
opposition coalition, was the subject of rigorous curbs by Mr Milosevic's forces
during the war. Demonstrations were banned and the mayor disappeared in
mysterious circumstances a month ago. The chief of police publicly boasted that
he had arrested and questioned 200 people since the Nato bombing of Yugoslav
targets began.
In the past few days the homes of members of the parliament have been raided
and some have been detained for questioning. On Monday and Tuesday last
week the streets were filled with military police rounding up young men. "Only
those who were at home [were detained]," said Verica Barac, a member of the
parliament, "because most were in hiding."
Other areas that have been the scene of anti-war protests have been singled
out. Since Tuesday about 1,500 men in Montenegro have been conscripted.
Military police have stepped up their presence in the central Serb towns of
Aleksandrovac and Krusevac, where demonstrations took place last month
after the bodies of conscripts in the Yugoslav army killed in Kosovo were
delivered home to their families. These towns have not joined in the
celebrations
marking the end of the war.
One woman in Aleksandrovac whose son is in the army in Kosovo said: "I will
not celebrate because I don't believe anything he [Milosevic] says. Only when I
see my son at home will I be happy."
In Cacak everybody is questioning why the war had to happen. One woman
complained: "People are angry. They ask why they had to go through the terror
of bombing, why so many young people had to die when this peace deal seems
no better than the one from Rambouillet."
Dissidents such as Zoran Djindic, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party
who was convicted of treason last month by a military court, remain in prison.
Djindic was indicted after visiting European capitals and questioning the
policies
of the Milosevic regime. In the central Serb city of Nis, relatives waited
in vain
for news of the 24 conscripts sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison
for desertion.
Despite the curbs, popular movements aimed at ousting Mr Milosevic are
spreading through Serbia. According to Ms Barac, the Citizens' Parliament has
made contact with grassroots organisations in Kraljevo in central Serbia,
Subotica in the far north, Vojvodina, close to the border with Hungary, and
Paracin, 90 miles south of Belgrade. All are bodies with just one aim: to create
a democratic society in Serbia. "And that is not possible while Milosevic
remains in power, " Ms Barac said.