Judge's house, fortunately, hasn't been blown up, but the arrest of Slobodan Miljkovic, also known as "Miljko" or "Lugar", the first individual indicted for war crimes by the Hague Tribunal for War Crimes in the former Yugoslavia, produced as much excitement in Kragujevac as an explosion. If you recall, according to the Hague Tribunal indictment, Miljkovic is accused of "ordering execution of 16 prisoners, Muslims and Croats, in Bosanski Samac, and of personally murdering three persons and beating up seven prisoners"(The accused Miljkovic, in an interview published in our paper a few weeks ago, denied all claims from the indictment).
What racketeering, it has nothing to do with racketeering. They needed an excuse to put me behind the bars and facilitate my extradition to the Hague. The circumstances were such that they managed to find a person who owed me some money and set up an alleged racket. If I were really involved in that, I wouldn't have had a legal contract and would have tried to avoid witnesses. I've heard that that poor guy Mladenovic owes more money than he weighs, so he thought that he could write off the money he owes me in by putting me in jail. Regardless of the verdict, he owes me that money and will have to pay it back.
Did the bomb threat to the Court president come from you?
Please! I am in jail and according to the prison rules, I cannot get in touch with my children, wife and parents, let alone send threats to someone. Especially over the phone.
One of your men might have done it?
I have a lot of friends in different professions, all over the country. Before the war I had a road transport company and traveled all over the country; during the war I have fought with people from all over the country. Nevertheless, knowing all those people, I am certain that none of them would have made that kind of a threat, simply because they know that by doing that, they would be making my position more difficult.
Are there some indication that you will be extradited to the Hague?
Absolutely. I will be extradited in the same way I ended up on the Richard Goldstone's list of shame. Unfortunately, that shameful list was written in Belgrade. I don't feel sorry for myself but I feel sorry that, because of the cowardly attitude of my country and its leaders, my innocent children will have to be branded with my alleged crimes.
There are rumors that you know a lot. Will you talk if extradited?
It is true that I know a lot; they tried to silence me twice already, with bullets. I survived two assassination attempts. In any case, if they send me alive to the Hague and if I have to set the accounts straight, I will talk. That will be very unpleasant for some people, but I have saved the evidence... I haven't betrayed my country, it has betrayed me.
However, Slobodan Miljkovic, hasn't been arrested as a war criminal but because of alleged racketeering. According to the indictment, Miljkovic, together with Ljubisa Jovanovic, a restaurateur from Kragujevac, was detained because, at the beginning of October, the two of them "with use of force and threats, forced Nebojsa Mladenovic, owner of a private business from Kragujevac, to make a contract with the accused Miljkovic for a loan of 30,000 dinars, in order to obtain the ownership rights for the property valued at 21,140 dinars." According to the indictment, Slobodan Miljkovic and Ljubisa Jovanovic committed the crime of "attempted extortion" following the orders of Miomir Arsic, the owner of a private company, accused for "the incitement for extortion..."
The events which led to the indictment started at the pub "Kod Sinise" in the Kragujevac township of Erdoglija, where, according to the indictment, all three accused and the plaintiff Mladenovic had a meeting. Mladenovic was ordered to pay 5,000 dinars by the end of that week, and to pay the rest a few days after that. On October 13, on the invitation of the accused, Mladenovic came to the offices of "MOO Tursa" and met Miljkovic, Jovanovic and Arsic. After several (bomb) threats and a short beating, Mladenovic phoned his lawyer Ratko Jovanovic; the contract was signed in the presence of the lawyer.
Slobodan Miljkovic's defense, lawyers Tatomir Lekovic, Radmilo Pantovic and Zvonko Markovic, believe that there are a lot of inconsistencies in this case and that the indictment will not stand in the court; lawyer Tatomir Lekovic sees a different motive behind the whole case: "This is actually a preparation and an introduction to Miljkovic's extradition to the Hague." One should view the threats directed at the court president in light of these facts: "obviously, the goal of threats was to make the position of the accused more difficult."
According to the press, Miljkovic is the fourth on the Richard Goldstone's list, immediately behind Karadzic, Mladic and Martic. Lekovic claims that it is not a coincidence that the first person indicted by the Hague Tribunal comes from Kragujevac, the town in which Germans carried out an infamous and barbarian massacre of civilians [in World War II]... It is not a coincidence that Slobodan Miljkovic, several times wounded war veteran who has been assassinated twice since he returned from the [Bosnian] Posavina front, has been chosen for a scapegoat. It is not a coincidence that he was arrested at the time when, in the USA, the negotiations are being carried out behind the closed doors. There are no coincidences.
Momir Arsic stated the following for Telegraf: "This is a farce. I didn't 'hire' Miljkovic, and there was no beating; if Mladenovic had been beaten he wouldn't have reported the incident. Mladenovic owes money both to me and to Miljkovic and he used the situation in order to write off his debts. He chose Miljko because of the Hague."