A global picture which should be based on the recognition of such details and nuances (whether the acronym KLA is put between quotation marks or preceded by the word so-called) is appropriate for cabinet discussions between those participants in the drama whose families are at home and, thank God, alive and healthy.
For those who insist on nit picking, the actual situation is as follows: bodies of two men were found at a dusty crossroads in Malisevo; they had been killed with 13 bullets; there were visible traces of torture on their bodies and it was obvious that their arms had been tied.
A message had been sent: this was a political, ritual murder. The London Times wrote that the two victims had been forced to kneel about two hundred meters from their colleagues in the surrounded police station in Malisevo and then, once they were executed, their bodies were left on the road like corpses of dead dogs. The world now entertains itself with speculations about how big a setback this terrorist attack is to the start of negotiations, but I think that this crime was supposed to prove a different point: there is no future for Serbs in Kosovo.
In the meantime, the period between the pull back of Serb security forces from Kosovo and the beginning of the full mandate of verifiers has been marked by bloodshed. Serbs feel that they have made a lot of concessions and to them such situation gives a pretext to re-examine the decision made under the threat of bombardment and to find in the obvious crimes by the Albanian side a rational excuse for the delay in the negotiating process. That much is absolutely clear. Police colonel Bozidar Filic announced that Serbian security forces will return to the field if the Albanian side does not come to its senses.
The Albanians, on the other hand feel that they did not get anything; even though the Serbs read Hill's working documents as disastrous for the myths of Kosovo and their own greatness, the Albanians interpret those same documents as disastrous for their own aspirations and nothing more than a simple diplomatic wasting of time; the Albanians keep looking for a bloody shortcut that could release them from the concern with Serbs sooner than the standard procedure that could allow Albanians to achieve self-rule through some version of autonomy.
The murders of Djaltov and Vujosevic can only tenuously be interpreted as an attempt by KLA to achieve access to the negotiating table where "Kosovo treasures" will be divided; with this crime, the terrorists prove that they are a force in the field and that they must approve any decisions made by the Albanian politicians in the forthcoming negotiations.
With this ritual murder they have sent a different sort of a message which can be interpreted with a simple answer to an even simpler question: what is the difference between a disarmed and tied up Serb policeman and a Serb farmer in Kosovo? None.
On Wednesday, November 4, at half past midnight, in Simina street in Belgrade the police arrested four students from Belgrade: Teodora Tabacki and Marina Glisic are students at the Philosophy department of the Belgrade University, Dragana Milinkovic is a student at the Philology department of the BU, while Nikola Vasiljevic is a student at the Brothers Karic University Art Academy. The Police caught them while Marina and Teodora were spray painting graffiti whose content isn't known, since they were removed the very same night. Dragana and Nikola were spray painting with a stencil the symbol of the student movement "Otpor" [Resistance], a clenched fist. They were taken to the Stari Grad Police Station where they were given an arrest warrant (signed by judge Slobodan Milosevic, who says that the student were remanded in custody because "they engaged in civic resistance against the authorities"); the following morning they way taken to the central Belgrade police station in November 29 street. The very same afternoon, they were taken in front of judge Zeljko Munjiza, who sentenced them to ten days in jail and immediately sent them to serve their sentences. The sentence does not contain a list of the painted graffiti. The women are currently in the Central prison in Bacvanska street, while Nikola is in the Padinska skela prison.
Their lawyers lodged appeals with the City Misdemeanor Court in which they argue that the judge was wrong to send the students to jail before all opportunities for appeal were exhausted (this is practice only in serious cases, and only if the identity, or the place of abode of the sentenced person is not known, or if there is reasonable doubt that he or she may escape); the appeals point out serious violations of the trial procedure, the fact that it is not indicated anywhere how the misdemeanor was proven, and a whole set of circumstances which make the sentence too harsh. For example, Nikola Vasiljevic, didn't paint anything, he was simply passing spray paint to others. On November 6, the City Court rejected all appeals, reasoning that, among other, the students were sent directly to jail because of reasonable doubt that they would repeat the misdemeanor.
These students were arrested while participating in the student campaign "Otpor" [Resistance]. Teodora and Marina are also activists of the Social Democratic Youth (SDO). "Otpor" has organized visits to the jailed colleagues and signing of a petition in support of their release. Another trial related to "Otpor" took place on Sunday. Dnevni Telegraf was fined with $120,000 [In October 1998, average yearly income in Yugoslavia was $1,500] because of the publication of their advertisement.