On July 11th, NGOs will hold a meeting as a sign of support and in remembrance of the victims of Srebrenica. The Serb radicals have also announced that they will attend this meeting in front of the Serbian Parliament and they will, on Seselj’s instructions, all wear black shirts, wave flags with skulls and slogans “With Faith in God, Liberty or Death”.
There will be a lot more of us than there will be representatives from traitorous organizations
The catfish from the great river are coming to swallow the sterlets from the little stream, said the leader of the Serbian Radical Party Vojislav Seselj for our newspaper, while also announcing that the radicals will join the action “Seven thousand” which will take place on July 11th in front of the Serbian Parliament.
The action that marks the 20th anniversary of the atrocity in Srebrenica, organized by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, has so far been publically supported by “Women in Black”, “YUCOM”, “Humanitarian Law Center”, “Helsinki Committee for Human Rights” as well as other NGOs and now, says Seselj, they too have accepted the public invitation to all citizens.
Overjoyed by the invitation
“Of course we will attend. The important thing is that the police won’t have the right to form a cordon between us since we are participants and aren’t organizing a counter-meeting,” explains the radical leader.
Pointing out that a lot of his fans and sympathizers will attend the meeting, Seselj has asked them, in order to fit in, to wear black clothes and to bring with them as many traditional black, Chetnik flags as they can.
“Black flags with skulls and slogans reading “With Faith in God, Freedom or Death” and “Ravna Gora Must Win” will be flaunted. This time, a great river will flow into a small one,” says Seselj.
When asked if he will address the gathered citizens, the leader of the SRP responds in his trademark fashion:
“What kind of a gathering would that be if I don’t say a few words? Of course I will, but I still can’t say what exactly. Something smart for a change. I will appear thusly recovered and in full strength.”
NGO representatives on the other hand say for our newspaper that such public statements and behavior aren’t funny at all and that these kinds of announcements don’t come as a surprise either. Director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights Anita Mitic appeals to the police to do its job responsibly and to not allow any incident.
“This is a much deeper and bigger problem since the situation is alarming. It’s not just the radicals who are trying to stay afloat in daily politics by using their hardline opinions to obstruct this gathering, but also numerous rightwing organizations lead by young people and that is a burning issue. I expected nothing less of SRP,” says Mitic.
Not funny
A nearly identical opinion is shared by the Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights “YUCOM” Milan Antonijevic, who says that the 20 year long practice of insulting victims must come to an end.
“If they were joking in 1995, they don’t have to joke in 2015 since politics has greatly evolved from the time they were seriously engrossed in it. The goal of this meeting is to send a clear and serious message, and since the radicals are only vying for the media’s attention they can do so elsewhere,” says Antonijevic. The former head of HLC Natasa Kandic didn’t want to comment on anything connected to the radicals.
“The important thing is that the police don’t have the right to form a cordon between us because we are all participants of a same gathering and aren’t organizing a counter-meeting.”
