Tageszeitung journalist was 'noted' for his reports in Bosnia too
by Branislav Radivojsa
Politika, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia, August 7, 1998
It is a mystery to us how Berlin "Tageszeitung" journalist Erih Ratfelder obtained the "facts" that "567 Albanians, including 430 children" died near Orahovac, and even more why he would decide to print such lies. We are however well aware that Erich Ratfelder used to print lies about events in former Yugoslavia and it's no wonder one of our officials referred to him as to "the most extremist and unprofessional German reporter". His countryman, German journalist and publicist Martin Letmeier noticed Ratfelder's tendency to print lies several years ago, during the war in Bosnia. In his text published in the book "Serbia Must Die" (book contains contributions about the role Western media played in Balkan conflicts), Letmeier analyzed Ratfelder's story from "Tageszeitung", December 2, 1992. Letmeier thoroughly researched Ratfelder's claims! He went strait to Bosnia to check the things Ratfelder wrote in his interview with a certain Ragib Hadzic, director of War Crimes Investigation Center in Zenica. Ratfelder was writing about rapes of Muslim women by Serbs. When he asked Hadzic how many brothels were there in the cities controlled by Serbs, he mentioned few and added: "In Doboj it is a private house owned by Milan Kerkes." Ratfelder's next question in the interview was: "Serbs hold women in brothels against their will?" Hadzic replied: "Kerkes' wife chooses Muslim women and girls for officers. It is not surprising since there are rumours that UNPROFOR general MacKenzie also used their services." Following this trail, Letmeier went to Doboj to look for Milan Kerkes whom "Tageszeitung" described as a war criminal who "tormented Muslim women". What did Letmeier find out? Kerkes had died in war six months before Ratfelder's story was published (July 1992). He was married to a Muslim woman(!) Zahida Kerkes and was a police officer. They had a female child."Police chief, Andrija Bjelisevic assured us there was no other man in Doboj by the name of Milan Kerkes," wrote Letmeier. Bjelosevic was kind enough to help us find Zahida Kerkes and summoned her to the police station. "She is a blond woman, born in 1960, wears glasses, dressed in black as a sign of mourning after her husband's death. Police chief, Bjelosevic explained to Zahida why he summoned her. He said we were German journalists who claim that they read in the newspapers her husband was a war criminal and that he held a brothel in his home where Muslim women were raped by Serbian soldiers. "They claim", he said, "that you, Mrs. Kerkes, chose the girls for the brothel". Zahida Kerkes was speechless. Tears poured down her face, she couldn't understand a thing. Choking in tears, she uttered: "How can they, how..."
In his story in "Tageszeitung", among other things Ratfelder said that Mrs. Kerkes took jewelry from rape victims. Letmeier confronted her with this accusation since she really had a lot of jewelry on her fingers: "Where did you get them?" Bewildered, she smiled, took each ring off and explained its origin. "Afterwards", writes Letmeier, "she showed us her home". When the news spread that we believed Mrs. Kerkes's little house used to be a brothel where girls were held against their will and that we accuse the whole neighborhood for tolerating it, people protested with bitterness.
"An old lady started crying; at least ten men, Muslims, swore nothing of the sort ever happened and claimed Milan Kerkes, a Serb, was a great man. None of the Muslims we spoke to in Doboj ever heard of camps where women were raped." Letmeier followed the trail of some other stories that appeared in German newspapers and established that stories about camps where women were raped were not true. "Journalism failed in the Balkans, not only in relation to rapes," concluded this publicist who was obviously aware of Erich Ratfelder's tendency to fabricate facts for a long time. It is amazing, however, that in both cases, in Doboj in 1992 and now in Orahovac, victim of Ratfelder's fabrications was the Serbian side.
Translated by the Serbian Ministry of Information. Similar Articles can be found on their site: Serbia-Info, in the news section.
