HRVATSKA RIJEC: You said that you had information according to which the OHR had documentation about criminal activities of Selim Beslagic?
AJANOVIC: That documentation is more than one year old. To back up this claim, let me point out that I have signed affidavits from people whose identity I will not disclose at this point. I have a statement that Manfred Dauster, Mr. Petritsch's first advisor, a year ago received complete documentation about Beslagic and his activities. There is one more document, that I unfortunately haven't yet managed to obtain, which confirms that the OHR ordered the prosecutor's office to block the investigation of Beslagic. This information was unofficially confirmed to me by a man from the SDP. Why have the international officials been silent for more than a year now? Fine, they did that because of the local elections, then because of the general elections, due to their fear that they would discredit the Alliance for Changes. But, the Alliance has been cobbled together and we still do not have an answer to the question why the international community is persistently trying to protect a proven criminal. Look, if Beslagic is protected by the OHR today, tomorrow every member of the Alliance will be convinced that he can do whatever he wants, as crimes will not be prosecuted. If Beslagic's case enters legal procedure, and there is sufficient basis and evidence for that, not one official will dare sign even an ordinary travel authorization without a thorough check.
If everything you claim is true, why hasn't the OHR reacted?
On the one hand, they do not want to admit how naïve they were. On the other hand, if you're too involved in something it is that much more difficult to admit your own mistakes. A lot of time passes and then someone may ask you why you were silent for a whole year. These are the reasons why they are trying to ignore this affair, but they will have to enter this process sooner or later. It is impossible to hide the truth forever. Everyone knows the truth, but someone has to give a green light for the prosecution of the case. If I am not mistaken, that is if the source of my information is not mistaken, Beslagic will be in jail by August 1, 2001. Judicial bodies will do that, because we are insisting on that with unprecedented persistence. Beslagic, that is his fate, found himself in the way of our persistence, and we shall never give up because in these matters we can never give up. Look, we have collected information, important evidence, in different ways. Our sources were international officials, financial police officers, and even members of the SDP, who were outraged by what is happening within that party. I believe that they approached us because of bad conscience, and decided to give us access to this information.
Could you comment on the "Fatmir Alispahic" case? Your name has been mentioned a lot in that scandal?
Fatmir is my good friend and the whole scandal is a lot of nonsense. We have filed charges against Beslagic, mayor Jasmin Imamovic, Front Slobode and "hackers from Tuzla", as this is obviously a crime. Bezlagic and Imamovic, we have evidence for that, were accomplices in a crime. The whole smear campaign directed against Alispahic, claims that he revealed data from the municipal press center, it is ugly to say this but it has to be done, are an ordinary stupidity. Fatmir is the chief of the press center and it is his duty to present to me as a representative in the Parliament, or to anyone else for that matter, information in his possession. On the other hand, how come the municipal authorities have to hide some information! If there are secrets, and all of us know that things have to be transparent and everyone insists on that, then something must be wrong. Therefore, everything we've been talking about is absurd and confirms that they do not know what to do about this. Besides, this ugly story is yet another indicator that "the Beslagic affair" will end really soon with an indictment.
What is your view of the fact that Beslagic's and Lagumdzija's Social-democrats received significant support, while you and the party nurturing "Titoist" tradition, did not do as well as you perhaps hoped for?
Tito is in the Bosnian Party out of spite against all those who ravaged Bosnia-Hercegovina. The SDP disowned Tito, and ejected from its statute the statement that the SDP is the heir of the achievements of the revolution and Tito. It makes sense that the SDP achieved results it did. The campaign of the international community, which favored the SDP, prompted conviction and hopes of the voters that true changes would take place. One of the reasons why citizens supported changes was their dissatisfaction with the current economic situation and insecurity. All of us are aware that the citizens did not vote for the SDP but against the SDA. Let me briefly return to Tito. He is in our program as a reminder of the times when the system truly worked for the benefit of the citizens. To remind them of the times when a politician who was in power did work for the interests of the citizens. As far as the SDP is concerned, that party tried to portray itself as the party of those who were with Tito. But they are actually the ones who betrayed Tito and who during the last ten years, after his time, created what we have today. You know, it should not be forgotten that the national parties did not come out of nowhere. They were created by the SDP. A change of Tito's Yugoslav Constitution, which banned formation of political parties based on ethnicity, set conditions for everything that came afterwards. Today the SDP talks against national parties, although all the time during the war it was in coalition with them. The SDP does not want to admit that its actions set conditions for the creation of exactly the type of the political system that after all destroyed Tito's Yugoslavia and resulted in all catastrophes that took place in the recent past. One day, very soon, the citizens will realize that the SDP members and leaders are people who think only about their own, profiteering interests. Look, it is obvious that during the last ten years, wherever they were in power, the SDP politicians were no different from those from the SDA. Their attitude with respect to interests and problems of citizens is extremely arrogant. As far as the SDA is concerned, that party will not be able to act as constructive opposition in the new situation, because the new authorities will use everything they find out [about the illegal activities of the previous authorities] for blackmail. It is becoming obvious that our party is the only opposition party left.
During your previous term in office as a representative in the Parliament you were highly critical of the current authorities; you're equally critical of the new government. Which set of authorities is your preferred target?
BOSS members and I personally are without doubt in opposition. Our duty and main task is to oppose the authorities. Therefore, our task is to identify as many negative trends as we can and persistently criticize, as that is the only way to force the authorities to work for the interests of the citizens. Naturally, the authorities are powerful and can simply ignore their chief task. Consequently our efforts have not produced any significant results so far. But, it seems to me, or better said, I am convinced that everything that we've done over the last few years has taught citizens an important lesson - that authorities can and should be changed. The problem in all of that is that every critical view of the Alliance is treated by the international community as a malicious attack. To every such view the OHR and OSCE react with denials and defense of the Alliance. That is understandable because these institutions favored the Alliance. However, it is difficult to believe that, once they realize the truth (although they perhaps already know the truth but do not want to admit that), they will publicly admit to their governments, who pay their salaries, that they backed wrong politicians and provided wrong information. That will not happen. None of them will face reality. Consequently, there will be no democracy. We shall have a single-party system and that is that. If I take Selim Beslagic as an example, I will soon conclude that it does not matter whether the OHR fires him. The real problem is what will happen if he is fired. That would be a difficult situation for the international community, the situation in which the BOSS as a relatively small party will have a chance to pick up many new supporters. In that case, the problem for the international community would be that they cannot control us in the BOSS, because we do not accept to be obedient executors of orders and will never with resignation agree with everything that is being done. We shall continue to criticize them as jointly responsible for the situation in the state. Because, the corruption would not be possible in the degree it exists if the international community did not participate in all that.
You criticize the SDP. Would you consider joining the Alliance under some conditions?
We would not join the Alliance under any conditions. We remain in opposition. I do not think that it would be difficult to support the Alliance. We even at first thought that the Alliance would bring some sort of improvement for the citizens. However, how could the BOSS support the political option that openly protects crime? The SDP, not even one of its members, has ever confronted Beslagic, nor is the SDP prepared for a discussion or to conduct an internal investigation about everything the BOSS has been warning about for a while in connection with Beslagic. Why don't they figure out whether something is going on, or not? They simply decided to ignore everything and, naturally, attack us using "strong arguments" that we lie and fabricate things. But, even if we lie, do the media lie as well? Therefore, briefly, we cannot support the political option that is than the previous one. Even at the very beginning, it turns out that the new authorities are perhaps even worse than the old ones.
Does that mean that you do not share the opinion that with the coming of the Alliance to power Bosnia-Hercegovina is leaving the dark period, as some people like to describe the rule of the national parties?
As early as in 1994 I strongly criticized national parties; therefore even during the war, when the SDP was in coalition with the SDA, when representatives of the SDP together with Alija Izetbegovic sat in the BH Presidency. Interestingly, at the time I had no trouble, and with the arrival of the new darkness I have. If darkness can be darker, that's what we have today. I am a victim of staged trials. Judiciary was under pressure to make certain decisions in the case related to my apartment. If that was the case with me, even though I am a representative in the Parliament, one can only imagine how ordinary citizens will be treated.