Serbian Minister for Information Aleksandar Vucic yesterday held a press conference at which he spoke about extended aggression and pressures on our country and that in our country there are those who, although aware that they are lying, claim that there is state terrorism.
Vucic referred to statements by the leading figures of the Hague Tribunal, which confirm who is actually behind the murders of Federal Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic and Zaljko Raznatovic Arkan.
"Spokesperson of the Hague Tribunal Paul Risley openly stated that they liquidated Pavle Bulatovic and Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan and such fate was reserved for many others in Serbia unless we accept occupation and an occupier," Vucic quoted Risley.
"This is the first time that someone publicly admitted that Zeljko Raznatovic was actually sentenced by them to death," said the Information Minister.
Vucic commented on the visit of NATO secretary general George Robertson, "who boasted about arresting Serbs and who illustrated the essence of the Tribunal by referring to Bulatovic's and Arkan's fates", by quoting Deutsche Welle. According to Deutsche Welle, Robertson "self-confidently" concluded that the noose was getting tighter and that it would in the end snag Karadzic, Mladic and the state leaders of FRY.
Out of those media which work for aggressors and occupiers, not a single one is willing to tell the truth to the people, and by confusion of issues of occupier and aggressor, worst criminals are becoming benefactors, while those who defend their country from aggression are supposed to be represented as murderers of the people, said Vucic, assessing that that is the essence of an almost unprecedented propaganda assault against our country.
Vucic said that as far as Bulatovic's and Arkan's murders are concerned, whose who committed those murders will say that they murdered for humanitarian reasons.
"As soon as you confront them, you become their target. Krajisnik's example is an illustration for that," said Vucic and added that the Serbian Information Ministry will continue its struggle against lies, asserting that in the future it will be even more successful in that.
He asserted that from abroad someone is trying in all ways, with murders and their justification through the media, to destroy the media in Serbia.
Concerning the recent break in, as was initially thought, of hackers to the web site of the Serbian Information Ministry, Vucic asserted that the American government and an Albanian terrorist organization from Pristina, which falsified the content of the Ministry's site, together carried out that attack.
That is the worst possible attack on freedom of information and a precedent of what is happening on the Internet [sic], which actually confirms the amount of fear which has struck the Americans and all those who cooperate with them on the destruction of a sovereign and independent country, asserted Vucic.
Vucic emphasized that the enemies have chosen the Ministry's site since it represents the essence of resistance of our country to American hegemony. Vucic asserted that that will not be the last attack of that sort but with "Serb know-how, skill and intelligence" we will be able to oppose them sufficiently successfully and that our truth will continue to spread across the globe.
Talking about general state of the media in Kosmet, Vucic announced that in five days the Information Ministry would have its representatives in several settlements in Kosmet and thereby inform the world about crimes committed by KFOR and about its activities, directed against the interests of the Serb people and state on the territory of that Serbian province.
In Kosmet American and other western European occupiers continue the media torture of the Serb people, and in the program of RTV Kosovo there are six minutes in very bad Serb language, out of 24 hours during which the program is broadcast, said Vucic and added that "they cannot find enough people to prepare such a criminal program and that's why it only lasts six minutes".
Regarding the media freedoms in the West, Vucic related the example of Danish KFOR contingent which took over a radio station in Zubin Potok and whose members are broadcasting programs about Danish stories and history.
That was a torrent of insults of some individuals who were obviously drunk. They threatened to murder representatives of the state leadership of Serbia, which would be the real expression of American democracy, said Vucic.
He also said that CNN reported that there were 100,000 protesters at the rally, while TV Studio B in a simultaneous translation translated that as several hundreds of thousands. Vucic added that the attitude of the foreign media and public opinion is increasingly changing and they are becoming more receptive of our truth.
"We are threatened by executions from their televisions, for which they claim to be in danger and under continuous pressure by the regime. In those studios they openly state who are the people on the American lists for execution and no one cares, and when you call them to respect the law they immediately complain to their bosses that they are endangered and demand much more money than they have been receiving until now," Vucic clarified the behavior of some media houses in our country, which write based on orders from abroad.
Wondering why the Serbian people does not explain to some of these media what would have happened to them if they did the same in a different country, Vucic concluded that the Americans have overestimated their power and that even after millions of invested dollars and doubled assistance to their media they still failed to break our public opinion.
Such media do not see tens of reconstructed bridges, roads, apartment buildings and the fact that "Serbia has succeeded," said Vucic.
Since they have failed they are now using the most brutal lies, said Vucic, assessing that after the yesterday's rally the optimism that the patriotic forces in Serbia and FRY will win an easy victory in the following elections is even greater.
As far as the elections are concerned, Vucic stated that Federal and local elections will be held this year, while the elections for the Serbian parliament will be held in 2001.
The Serbian government and the Parliament are not here to fulfill all sort of wishes and call elections every time it occurs to someone to make such a demand, said Vucic.
Asked to comment on the decisions of certain media not to pay fines for violations of the Public Information Law, Vucic said that their behavior is supported by foreign agents.
The Serbian Information Minister emphasized that such media will "respect the law" and that no country in the world would tolerate breaking of its laws.
Tanjug
Matic stated that malevolent American propaganda will not achieve its goal, similarly to the way in which NATO bombers failed, even though they are making large investments in propaganda and political subversion against our country.
He emphasized that the time of the truth is drawing nearer and both the domestic "repeaters" of American lies and neighboring countries which provided their transmission towers for the spreading of lies and jamming of our electronic media, will be ashamed.
Matic explained that Yugoslavia has responded to a propaganda siege and various modes of media blockade with total liberalization of the domestic media scene in which only lies are prosecuted. Our media space is characterized by the large number of 150 TV and 700 radio stations of which 90 percent are patriotic media, he stated.
The Federal Information Minister specially stressed that it is not true that Yugoslavia is waging a media war against the rest of the world, but that together with us most of the world is offering resistance to spreading of lies by 19 NATO countries.
For the articles in the Information Law which protect state interest and personal dignity Matic stated that they were copied from the American and French law so that the criticism of these articles by the so-called democrats is simply a farce.
Responding to the questions of viewers regarding why there is no "opposition" on the state-controlled TV, the Federal Information Minister stated that those who do not participate in elections and do not have representatives in the Parliament are not an opposition, even in Western democracies, while Vuk Draskovic, who actually boycotts RTS, cannot be considered to be the real opposition since he rules a city of two and a half million people, Belgrade, and can spread his "wisdom" on TV Studio B whenever and as much as he likes.
He characterized yesterday's Belgrade rally of political groups without representation in the Parliament as an electoral rally of losers who receive money from the West.
"That was a miserable fiasco which indicates that numbers of NATO lovers are decreasing and that they will eventually totally disappear," said Matic and added that that is confirmed by reports of numerous foreign news agencies which estimated that between 25,000 and 40,000 protesters attended the rally, thereby denying silly TV Studio B claim about 500,000 participants.
The Federal Information Minister stated that the northern part of Vojvodina will in two weeks be able to watch the program of YU-info television.