When darkness prevails - part 1 (VIDEO)

In the dark, the service kills, and the institutions are silent. The levers of power are in the hands of the party in power while the persecution of dissidents, the shutting down of the media and the destruction of freedom of speech continues.

On April 11, 1999, on Easter, while the NATO bombing of the then FRY was going on, journalist Slavko Ćuruvija was killed.

He was killed by the state, and the perpetrators fired 12 bullets at the journalist.

From then until today - borders have changed, the name of the country has changed, parties in power have changed, even the secret service has changed its name, but those who ordered and killed Slavko Ćuruvija have not been judged. 

He was previously declared a traitor. They drew a target for him through the appropriate media - those who ruled at the time.

The verdict for his murder has not yet been passed, but the prosecutor's closing words are a clear enough message. To everyone.

"Slavko Ćuruvija was not a traitor, but a patriot who, with his criticism, caused the anger and revolt of the highest state authorities. In the end, his courage cost him his life", said the organized crime prosecutor Milenko Mandić.

Today, the service does not kill, but apparently it still protects its own - those who killed.

Protection of crimes for many decades and the creation of an atmosphere in which dissidents become a legitimate target for years, on the one hand, brings us back to the nineties, and on the other hand, shows that the lessons of the past have not been learned.

The story of a time in which Slavko Ćuruvija lived and worked and everything that happened then is today a warning to everyone who redraws targets. 

In the dark.

Enemy of the state: Journalist

When the government declares the media as enemies, journalists become the target, and darkness sets in for the country. 

During the 1990s, the independent media, the then leaders of the opposition and the non-governmental sector became foreign mercenaries and traitors to the state leadership and the Security Service. 

They were followed and bugged for years after that. 

Apart from the introduction of a multi-party system, the beginning of the 90s was also marked by wars on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. 

Secret services also played an important role in those events, as well as in many events later. 

As the former state crumbled, the secret service wielded increasing political power.

"You have to understand that you can't compare that time to any normal time ever. It's a war. There are refugees everywhere, it's blood everywhere, destruction, death. It is the end of an era, the country - where not only we were born, but also our parents - has disappeared. You are actually standing on the ruins of your entire previous life," said Branka Prpa.

On those ruins, the unofficial anthem of the government at the time became the song "No one can do anything to us".

It was also a message to everyone - with the help of the service, which is a sword in the hands of the party and obedient media - no one will be allowed to oppose.

"The government that existed in such a semi-legal country, thank God, accepted the connection with crime, not only the government, but also politics as a whole began to accept the connection with crime, and that was a feature of the time in which we lived." One confusion, one total chaos," said Voja Žanetić.

"The beginning of the civil war in Yugoslavia, international sanctions, the collapse of the economy, the collapse of the dinar as a national currency, terrible, unprecedented hyperinflation, and with all that, an extraordinary media propaganda of the regime," said Miroslav Kos.

The media propaganda was so strong that the majority of citizens believed that Serbia was not at war, even though it sees off soldiers who go to the battlefield every day. 

They believed that during the time of sanctions, the state provides safe earnings through pyramidal savings. 

In fact, this is how the state organized one of the biggest robberies of citizens. They also believed that everyone was to blame, except those in power.

However, even in such circumstances, there were those who did not agree to pressure and manipulation. 

The witness of that time is Branka Prpa, historian, author of articles in the weekly Evropljanin and partner of Slavko Ćuruvija.

"Journalists did not want to participate in that - neither in war propaganda, nor in all those indescribable lies, hatred that was marketed in an Orwellian sense. Five minutes of hate every day. That's when something forms, which is the core of future independent journalism in Serbia," said Branka Prpa.

The independent youth radio station B92, which was founded a few years earlier - on May 15, 1989, plays an important role in defending freedom of speech during wars and sanctions.

"During the 90s, the media were, conditionally speaking, attempts to point out abnormality, that is, attempts at normalization." Attempts to return Serbia to a relatively normal path. "I want to live in a normal country" was a very common phrase at that time, because everything that was happening was considered abnormal," said Voja Žanetić, a columnist in Ćuruvija's Telegraph and Evropljanin.

The coverage of Radio-television Belgrade at the time was limited to glorifying the "patriotic policy of Slobodan Milošević". 

The leader of the Serbian Restoration Movement, Vuk Drašković '91, states in the author's text that the political and military elite want war conflicts in Yugoslavia, but that Serbia will not give its children to them. 

This was followed by a comment on state television about the alleged relationship between Vuk Drašković and Franjo Tuđman. On March 9, 1991, Vuk Drasković called on citizens to, as he said, liberate TV Bastille - a factory of lies and a dungeon of truth.

These were also the first major demonstrations against the regime of Slobodan Milošević. 

Water cannons, clashes between citizens and the police followed. 

First, a policeman was killed by falling from a height of five meters while running away from the demonstrators, and then a young man, who was 17 at the time, was killed by a stray bullet.

The image from the street was copied to the independent media at the time. On that day, the work of radio B92 and television Studio B was banned, and the state television Belgrade called the demonstrators traitors, destroyers and forces of chaos in their reports. The then president Slobodan Milošević also said that.

"When you find yourself in that situation, which is extreme, and you start to see how the country you live in ends up in hatred, chaos and blood, you know that is the moment you have to decide" Prpa said.

The indication that he may be losing absolute power makes the current government irritated by any criticism. 

"Don't forget that since 1992 and 1993, Milošević could rule exclusively with other people's votes, with the help of the votes of another party. He is extremely powerful, he controls everything that is important to control in Serbia, but he knows that he does not have that safe and comfortable majority," said Dragan Bujošević.

The war had already lasted for a long time on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. 

Propaganda through the media begins to dominate. 

However, such a situation led to the establishment of several independent radio stations from Podgorica and Cetinje via Bajina Bašta, all the way to the hometown of Slobodan Milošević - Požarevac and Radio Boom 93. 

There were media that did not agree to propaganda, pressure and censorship.

"Those media were allowed at that moment. "When an opposition government wins a municipality, it has the right to have some kind of television with an opposition tone, to broadcast its views," said Žanetić.

The revolt of journalists in the electronic media, that is, the establishment of independent ones, is also beginning to be followed by the press. 

It was the beginning of resistance that did not stop until the regime of Slobodan Milošević was replaced. One of the symbols of freedom of speech at that time was Radio B92, whose founder was Veran Matić.

"Mirjana Marković said in a text in 1995, "there will come a time when someone will have to stand in the way and stop all those who speak against the state, against the government," Matić said. 

Fighting pressure: Independent sheets and banging in pots 

"Of those dailies at that time, Borba was the only one, it was the newsletter of the Socialist Union of the Working People of Yugoslavia at the time, and in some way it was a little bit removed from the direct influence of Milošević, and only in Borba could a reader actually find some objective information about what was happening actually in the country," Kos said.

The newspaper Borba was started by the communists in 1922, and was banned by the royal government. 

In socialist Yugoslavia, the newspaper Borba was a party newspaper, then a state newspaper. 

Wanting to escape from the influence of the regime, some of the Borba journalists leave and found Naša Borba. Among them is Slavko Ćuruvija. 

"Society has become absolutely divided, torn apart." To those who agreed to that regime, to the policy of war, hatred and destruction, and those who did not agree to it," Prpa explained.

While the regime media did not even report on the columns of refugees from Krajina, and independent media were declared traitors, Radio B92 organized peace concerts and aid collection for the Serbs who were driven out in columns during the Storm operation and are arriving in Belgrade.

"In every profession, you have something called professional ethics." "Can you as a person, as a member of a certain profession, ignore the extent to which the public is not informed and the extent to which the public is being manipulated," added Branka Prpa.

Ćuruvija also made a choice - he decided to make his own newspaper. 

Together with his colleague Momcilo Đogović, he founded the weekly Telegraf. In May 1994, it appeared on newsstands under the slogan "in the middle of Wednesday".

"He was flexible, he was very resourceful." He is one of the first people who really got into that business and started doing journalism as a business. So he didn't privatize an existing paper, but started those new projects"; said Ljiljana Smajlović.

Slavko Ćuruvija's new project was "Daily Telegraph", which he soon launched independently. The first edition of "Daily Telegraph" was published in early 1996. 

"He called me and told me that he intended to in his huge Daily Telegraph, since it was one big newspaper. The back page is given to the columnist and that columnist should do roughly the same in his opinion as Tanja Torbarina in the Croatian newspaper, I think that Nacional was the newspaper in which she wrote. I said - as for me, I can steal styles, if you want I can take a picture like Tanja Torbarina, and I really did in the first issue of my column, I had a blonde wig and I looked very seductively at the camera and that's how it started my cooperation with Slavko and Dnevni Telegraf", said Voja Žanetić.

Dnevni telegraf, according to many, was the first Serbian tabloid, and its appearance, titles and topics differed from everything that was available to citizens in this area until then. 

Miroslav Kos was one of the editors with whom Slavko Ćuruvija founded this daily newspaper.

"Nowadays, when we say tabloid, we really mean the worst, but I think that Slavko profiled that tabloid well." His role model was actually the German Bild. That means texts that should not be long, direct, short, clear, and headlines that are in a tabloid style, that is, headlines that attract attention," said Miroslav Kos. 

Journalist Perica Gunjić worked with Slavko Ćuruvija in Borba, and later in Telegraf.

"The tabloidness of that time cannot be compared with the tabloidness of today 06:19 That newspaper did not deal with people's private lives, variety shows, on the contrary, it had, I don't know, Umberka Ek's column in every issue, it had content that interested people who did not like tabloid journalism," Gunjić said.

Provocative photos and headlines, anonymous sources, but also information on the front pages that could only have been obtained directly from the then government - made up Dnevni telegraf.

"I always said, 'Slavko, this is for fools,' and he says, 'Well, it's not, that's the most important thing, you should immediately see, at first glance, what's happening,'" Prpa said. 

It got a large circulation, but also the attention of the regime, with the decision to fill the columns with protests that took place on a large scale in Belgrade, and because of the theft in the local elections. 

The SPS-JUL coalition experienced its first defeat, but did not admit it. 

The protests were covered by independent media, but because of that they suffered the blows of the regime. 

Without announcement and due to alleged water that got into the coaxial cable, the B92 radio signal was turned off. 

The answer of the then editorial office and Veran Matić was - broadcast the program from the window of the editorial office. 

Paradoxically, the audience that listened to the radio at that time was three times larger than before the signal was canceled. The cable reportedly dried up, the signal returned, and B92 was heard again.

"That was the time when the people were banging pots, blowing whistles, protesting, and it was clear that Milošević was of course not very pleased," Kos said.

Protests against theft in local elections 96/97. lasted three months. 

While the state media calls the protesters fascists, thugs, foreign mercenaries, the influence of independent media is growing. 

The ruling party at the time decided to show its power on December 24 by organizing a counter rally in the center of Belgrade.

"Just to tell you! No one will destabilize Serbia. All of them, both external and internal, wanted to weaken us, and I tell you that we will come out of these attempts of theirs not weaker, but stronger! Slobodan Milošević said.

On that day, Belgrade was on the verge of a civil war - the citizens turned on each other.

The protests did not die down. with the request to recognize the results - lasted more than 100 days. Dnevni Telegraf, owned by Slavko Ćuruvija, became more and more popular during that period.

"And then Slavko in Dnevni Telegraf got a circulation of 140,000 copies a day, which at that time of great poverty, sanctions and everything was a huge circulation for a newspaper." It was precisely because he was able to get information that was important and that he followed the citizens' protest that the weight of the daily telegraph as a daily newspaper was actually built on that protest," said Prpa.

It becomes a problem for the then government. Slavko Ćuruvija and his associates have no idea how everything will end. But the clues start even then. 

"At that time, our circulation was already over 100,000, and quite a lot, I think we were going to about 140,000." I think there are already some sparks starting on that line," Kos said.

Images of protesters in the snow and rain, in persistence of their demands, traveled around the world. 

The word of the international community also arrived, so a special law, Lex specialis, was passed, which made the election results official. 

In February 1997, Milosevic admitted defeat for the first time.

"That was the beginning of a development path to full escalation, so to speak." what has become clear is that Milošević is running his last circle, and Slavko has always publicly mentioned that after all the wars he started, that circle will close with the war in Serbia itself," Prpa added.

Kosovo knot

The protests died down, but Milosevic faced a new crisis - the Kosovo knot. 

In the first weeks of the armed conflict between the security forces of Serbia and armed members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, far from the public eye, more than 50 members of the immediate and extended family of KLA leader Adem Jašari, including women and children, were killed. 

"Slavko's first problem was with the authorities directly, which means that I invited her to the police for an informational interview in April 1998 to explain to Dnevni telegrafa the conflict and death over 23/24 there were people, I don't know exactly now, the Jašari family in conflict with the police. Why did he call those people Albanians and not terrorists? and he had to give a written statement about it, in which he wrote that he cannot call women, children and the elderly terrorists, that they are Albanians," said Prpa.

Against the facts published by journalists - the government then begins to fight with accusations and labeling.

"Since then, the whole story about Ćuruvija being a traitor to the country and similar nonsense has started, which is actually a mantra that is repeated to this day. Because he only openly and truthfully wrote about the crimes of our side when it comes to those conflicts," Gunjić said.

The peak of hysteria has been happening since the end of 1998. 

With the beginning of the intensification of the conflict in Kosovo, and before the NATO bombing, Milošević reconstructed the Government into the Government of National Unity, which then consisted of SPS, JUL and SRS. 

The pressures on the then independent media are also intensifying.

"In the until then dominant ruling party, the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Serbian Radical Party joined the Government with Vojislav Šešelj as Vice President, Minister of Information Aleksandar Vučić, soon the Yugoslav left led by Mirjana Marković will gain strength. In that year, the military-police operations in Kosovo began, and already at the beginning of that government, the media were warned that they had to report on those events in a certain way. So, an attempt at censorship," explained Veran Matić.

Ćuruvia's answer was to establish the magazine Evropljanin, a weekly based on the German Focus. 

A year earlier, he began to assemble a team. Invites journalist Dragan Bujošević. At that time, Bujošević was an assistant editor in the weekly NIN. 

He says that it was difficult to assemble a team, because starting a weekly at that time was an adventure and uncertainty.

"The second problem was, in a way, the one I had when I talked to Slavko. What are our borders? Slavko already had, of course, his own biography. In that biography, he had some people where you had to ask, or he did some things, he also worked in DB, he was in analytics. Slavko, how much does that limit me? If I want to work with you? Or Slavko, how much does your relationship with Mira Marković limit me? Those were my first two questions I asked him. He told me on the latter, don't touch their children, they are sensitive to children. Of course, referring to Mira Marković and Slobodan Milošević, I don't really care about the rest," said Dragan Bujošević.

To the first question, "he said that it was behind him, of course I told him what anyone will tell you, any fool can tell you once a service, always a service." He said no, it's behind. It's over."

The position of Slavko Ćuruvija differed from the official policy of the state, and he clearly wrote it in the editorial of Evropljanin.

In the midst of Milosevic's conflict with the international community, which threatened to bomb because of the events in Kosovo, Ćuruvija says - the weekly Evropljanin was created for European Serbia.

European:

"Our press market is crying out for a new weekly." He is crying out for a modern weekly that will offer facts, that will not share lessons and give pretentious sermons, that will respect the reader and his intelligence and that, in the midst of this madness, will above all try to prove the now unprovable thing: there is still intelligence in Serbs and in Serbia, for Serbs and there is still hope for Serbia!", 

"And the very name European, that was already a rather fierce message. I remember my friend David Binder, who worked for the New York Times, he told Slavko "what a European - are you normal, do you see what Europe is like to Yugoslavia?" And Slavko nicely said then that every European was anti-European at some point in his life in a good mood," says Ljiljana Smajlović.

"At that moment when you do those things that you think are completely right, it doesn't look like courage to you. It seems like something that is normal to you. So you feel it, you think it, you want it and it is something that is normal for you. "You don't even wonder what the possible consequences are," Bujošević said.

"Accordingly, that formula turned out to be a very good formula, when there are competent people behind it, who have something to say, and when the citizens' thirst for essential information was so great that they were ready to, regardless of the fact that they had no money, they give money to buy a European," Prpa said.

"Slavko was not ideologically minded at all." When the European started, he didn't start with the intention of entering into a clash with Milosevic, and it actually came about through the internal logic of the escalation of the conflict, because the situation for Milosevic was getting worse. As the bombing approached, he tightened his reins and began to react more nervously to any criticism. "Especially the criticism of a paper like Europljanin, precisely because Slavko Ćuruvija was not someone who was known as a fighter for the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević's regime, but as someone who even cooperated well with the government of Slobodan Milošević," Smajlović added.

Slavko Ćuruvija maintained contact with Mirjana Marković, the president of JUL at the time and wife of Slobodan Milošević, and he did not hide it from his colleagues.

"He saw her, say, once a month, usually at the JUL headquarters." He told us that, and those conversations were not about daily politics, most often they were about social or maybe even philosophical topics. He did not go to Mirjana Marković for an opinion, nor did she, from his story, as he told us, put any pressure on him. "He believed that he, as the owner and editor-in-chief of an influential daily newspaper, should have good relations with important political figures in Serbia," Kos said.

"Slavko was a very charming man, I'm sure that he would have been one of those isolated autistic political persons who, when he appeared to them like that, would have smiled and regarded them as the smartest in the world for the needs of his business, if they had a very positive opinion of to him. "Sloba didn't like him, probably because Mira loved him," Žanetić said.

"Listen, you could only have a specific relationship with Mira Marković. Journalists understood that she had a central place and that Milosevic's decisions were in many respects her decisions. "Everyone was trying to get to her, in order to find out something, all their attempts to find out what the plans for the future were, not only of Slavkova, but also of other independent journalists, were basically unsuccessful," explained Branka Prpa.

Front page: The beginning of the end

Regardless of the communication they maintained, the European's criticism under the title "Professor Marković's dream" followed on the front page. 

The reason was the then repressive Law on the University, which limited the autonomy of the faculties.

"That's the front page of "Professor Mira Marković's Dream". So, I dug up somewhere that at that certain session of the university committee, the party committee, they were thinking about what should be done with the university, how it should be organized so that in some way it would not produce, let's say, problematic staff for the future," he said. Bujošević.

"And we made this front page, Branka and Slavko were then, were they in Naples?" "Slavko called and what's up, I tell him what the front page looks like and that, he says it's excellent, great, well done," Bujošević added.

"I realized only when we agreed on that front page, Professor Marković, where Professor Marković was criticized on the front page as someone who is pushing the university in the wrong direction, and I realized that we had entered into a conflict," said Ljiljana Smajlović.

As the pressure of the international community on Milosevic increased, he increased his pressure on dissidents within the state, declaring them traitors and enemies. 

It was necessary to find a way to ban criticism of Milosevic's regime, which at that time could only be heard through independent media.

That is why the People's Unity Government of Mirko Marjanović decides to deal with such journalists and media by passing the unconstitutional Law on Information and various regulations.

"7/8. In October, a decree was passed restricting the media at various levels, among other things, from rebroadcasting the programs of the BBC, Radio France Internationale, and Radio Free Europe. "Radio Index, TV Pirot, Radio Kikinda and another 7-8 radio and TV stations are disappearing from the air", reminded Veran Matić.

The unruly press is also restricted. Dnevni Telegraf and Danas were banned based on the Decree of the Ministry of Information, which was signed by then Minister Aleksandar Vučić. 

While Vučić claimed that the reason for this was their overthrow of the constitutional order, journalists accused the government of disciplining the media in this way.

One article published on the front page of Europljanin marked the beginning of the end.

It was signed by Aleksandar Tijanić and Slavko Ćuruvija and was published on October 19, 1998. 

In the text, in a direct address to Slobodan Milošević, they said that it is his duty to oppose lawlessness and the atmosphere of inciting a permanent state of emergency. 

In 13 points, due to, as they stated, their contribution to the fight for freedom from fear, they proposed to Milošević to dissolve the coalition with the radical party, withdraw the disputed University Law and stop the pursuit of media and journalists.

"In fact, all his sins are listed in that letter." "We didn't think it was too harsh, that is, we thought it was too harsh, but that was the intention," Prpa said.

"A very, very brave text that is a true example of journalistic courage, but also of human courage, which can be said to be a turning point," Veran Matić said.

"I'm telling you, the gloves are off." that's when it became clear that either he will leave, and that regime, or they will kill us. It was simply no longer a compromise," added Branka Prpa.

"From that moment, things began to happen rapidly," concluded Matić.

The Court and the Censor: Labeling by Law

Just 12 days after the adoption of the Regulation, in October 1998, a new Law on Public Information, known as the Vučić Law, was adopted overnight, following an emergency procedure. At that time, Aleksandar Vučić, as an official of the SRS, was the Minister of Information.

"Serbia before the introduction of the Law on Information and Serbia after the introduction of the Law on Information were not the same two countries - this was previously a place where you could speak. When that Law on Information came and that idea that if you think otherwise, you are actually a traitor and an ally of this foreign aggressor who will come soon. And then the situation became, how can I say, as if you were suddenly marked apart from the rest of the population, as if someone put a yellow tape on you here (points to his arm)", said Voja Žanetić.

"That October was decisive. Vojislav Šešelj speaks in parliament and says, defending the Law on Public Information, that it will stop those who, whose editor is Javier Solana, listing Danas, I mean Naša Borba, and then he said the same as Veran Matić, who is the lieutenant general of the NATO pact , Slavko Ćuruvija, who is a sergeant, and Grujica Spasović, who is a major, I mean the NATO pact. But it was that rhetoric that put us at that moment not only as if we were enemies, but as if we were directly in the headquarters of those who would bomb the country," explained Veran Matić. 

The law practically legalized the labeling that anyone who thinks or says otherwise is a foreign spy. 

The presumption of innocence was abolished, and verdicts on millions of fines were handed down overnight. 

Since no one could pay it within 24 hours, it was logical that the newspaper would be shut down, and for the others, who were not punished, it would lead to self-censorship.

"Imagine the Misdemeanor Court judging you in the categories of political guilt, which is called overthrowing the constitutional order," Prpa said.

"And in fact, the whole goal was that we would not keep you in prison, because you would become heroes, because then the international public would rise up around you." It's like arresting journalists, judging journalists, no, we'll take your money, so you can't make journalists and have a peaceful life," Bujošević said.

On the same day when the Law was adopted, Ćuruvija met with Mirjana Marković at the premises of JUL. He spoke about the details of the meeting for the weekly "Vreme". 

Statement by Slavko Ćuruvija:

I told her everything: about the growing fascism in Serbia, about the dictatorship and about the violence that is to come if something is not done. I tried to explain to her how this kind of dramatization of politics in Serbia can go so far in six or seven months that blood falls on the streets of Belgrade and other cities in Serbia.

She took it very badly. 'Threat, threaten...', she told me and then attacked.

The key theses of her attack were that I am a traitor, that I have bosses in America and abroad. She accused me - in a high tone - of calling for bombing and told me to do and write what I wanted... We parted after I told her that this - as far as I could see - was our last meeting and that she should say hello to Slobodan Milošević. She replied that she would not greet him, but that she would tell him what I told her.

"I was in the newsroom, Slavko came, and I remember that, he has that dark blazer." I told him "you look like they killed everyone in your house and 500 meters around the house". "He told Bujke, this was worse, and when we told the writer Radoslav Petković, he said that he is a dead man," said Bujošević.

Four days after the meeting, retroactively, according to the Law on Public Information, the European was convicted. And that to a draconian fine of 2,400,000 dinars. 

The lawsuit was filed by a previously unknown non-governmental organization - the Patriotic Union of Belgrade.

"In that European, there was a letter to Milošević, written by Slavko and Tijanić, and there was some text about how he ended Ceausescu in Romania and a text about how many people emigrated from Serbia in the nineties." Those were the three key texts they were kidding about," Prpa said.

"You come, you sit there, they tell you that you misinformed people about some things and your fine is 200,000 euros. And then you get up after 15 minutes, go out and realize that you don't have 200-300 thousand euros and you wonder what to do," said Perica Gunjić.

"We are fundamentally accused of subverting the constitutional order." It is a criminal offense punishable by between 5 and 20 years in prison, and if you are accused of it, you are immediately put in custody. With these changes in the law, they made the same offense that you have in the criminal law exist in the Law on misdemeanors. So it is something that must not happen in any country. One crime is judged according to one law, period," Bujošević said.

Other media outlets were also tried in an expedited procedure, and the most frequent applications came because those who sued claimed that their patriotic feelings were hurt by the media's writings. 

The law was repealed after the 5th of October changes, i.e. after the formation of the new Government in 2001. 

Although a decision was made at the time to compensate the media that were punished under this law, it was never fully implemented. 

More than a decade later, when he came to power in 2012, Aleksandar Vučić said that his biggest mistake was that law.

Aleksandar Vučić in 2015 for European Euronews:

It was a very stupid Information Act and I have admitted it to my people and I have said it a thousand times. 

"Regardless of the fact that Aleksandar Vučić said that it was a stupid law and that it was a big stupidity that was made, and that he publicized it, I think it is important that this example and that year 1998, 1999 and 2000 be taken more seriously they heard. Of course, each of us carries our own burden, but it is very important that there is a trace of what happened, precisely because of it so that it never happens again," said Veran Matić.

Dragan Bujošević believes that the Minister of Information did not decide on anything at that time.

"For example, someone passed the Law on Information to him and said you will propose this in the Parliament." They are part of the coalition and they will do that work, it is not certain that the Minister of Information decided on anything at that moment regarding the media," Bujoševć added.

If the media then did not have to pay the large fines that were imposed on them overnight - the inventory of personal property followed.

Everything was confiscated - from computers to chiviluks, and numerous editors and media owners, in order to protect themselves, changed their residence addresses or prepared blank divorces and transferred their property to their wives.

"I asked for advice from a lawyer, and the advice was that in order to protect the property, the apartment must be transferred to the wife, and it is necessary to leave the lawyer with the authority to divorce you at any time if you are not able to do so, just in case." something to do," Veran Matć recalled.

"I have to admit that at that time we were not afraid, at that time we were more intoxicated with our importance and our historical role and we were too stupid to see how the coming time would overtake us," Smajlović said.

Newsrooms were closed, circulations were seized. Newspapers were still printed.

"Slavko came up with that idea, he founded a company there in Montenegro, and then Dnevni telegraf practically became a Montenegrin daily newspaper that is exported, I should say, to Serbia." He knew that it was already a small circulation. "He knew that it would not have, I don't know what kind of media influence, but he was just that kind of person, he did not want to give up and he wanted to show with that move that he is still persevering in his intention," said Miroslav Kos.

"The European was printed in Zagreb, and then smuggled into Serbia via Bosnia." So that smuggling channels were developed, so that the newspaper could function at all," Prpa explained.

"After that verdict, we didn't print newspapers in a large number, in a circulation where we could print them, for the simple reason that we could only sell them on the street." The way you open a coat or coat and give it to someone. Buy a newspaper. There was no other way at that time," Bujošević said.

Speech before the US Congress

Despite all attempts to survive, already in December '98 Dnevni Telegraf could no longer be bought in Belgrade. 

Then Slavko Ćuruvija decides to internationalize his case. He receives an invitation to speak in the American Congress and accepts it. 

"Slavko hesitated a lot whether to go or not, because there was one belief, especially among our senior colleagues, and I consider him to be a senior colleague, which was somehow defined by Mitović in an interview, it seems to me earlier, when he said that it was okay to criticize the country, one's own country in the country when you are in that country, but it is absolutely inadmissible to present such criticisms outside the country," said Veran Matić.

"That's why the United Nations serves, that's why all those international institutions serve, that is, they served at that time, to provide that kind of protection in the case of notorious violations of human rights, from war crimes, from all that are extreme forms of political action," she said. Branka Prpa.

Slavko Ćuruvija spoke in the Congress of the United States of America about the situation in Serbia at the time, primarily about the position of the media and the financial destruction by the state:

Until a month ago, I was a successful publisher and owner of two influential and popular editions, the daily newspaper "Dnevni telegraf" and the magazine "Evropljanin". Mr. Chairman, I sit before you today as a man whose company was destroyed, whose editorial inventory was confiscated, and whose publications were banned by the regime of Slobodan Milošević.

We have no choice, so that's the point. We are completely devoid of fear of them, we are not afraid of them. I think that they have set their sights on some people, that is, on us and I see other colleagues, and that they are starting a war that they will definitely lose. We will be journalists for the rest of our lives, and they will not be politicians for the rest of our lives, and of course we will help them to be as short as possible.

 At that time, journalists were aware of the responsibility they have towards the public.

The fact that journalists are both before and after some government was enough motivation not to succumb to pressure. 

The journalists of the independent media were clear and unanimous in this attitude. The price that Slavko Ćuruvija will pay in the end was his life.

"He has proven himself to be excellent in his performance in Congress and in other meetings." "Smajlović was with him, she came back here and told me we created a media monster for freedom of speech, a fighter for freedom of speech," said Veran Matić.

"Yes, he was very effective in Washington, he was very critical of Milosevic, but he was also critical of American politics," Smajlovic added.

"Absolutely nowhere, there is nothing like what has been said, which is that he sought bombing during his time in America." "His performance was really patriotic, he condemned the bombing threats, very explicitly," said Matić.

"That kind of success that Slavko had on the international level created fear among them. They were afraid of the kind of political charisma that he got from those persecutions. "When you are persecuted for some things that are a democratic category, which is the area of ​​human rights, you gain that kind of political charisma as a person who fights for those principles," Prpa said. 

"He is increasingly recognized by our and foreign public as a person who has the integrity and strength to fight against the dictatorial regime of Slobodan Milošević, who, in addition to being cruel to all our neighbors, was also cruel to his own citizens." He simply raised his voice and his voice was heard, he had the media and was a guest of many media and people listened to him attentively. He had charisma, and I think that's where the fear of him starts," said Perica Gunjić.

The persecution continued even after his return from America. And in court. On March 8, 1999, Ćuruvija, along with two journalists from Dnevni Telegraf, was sentenced to an unconditional prison sentence, following the procedure of the public prosecutor, and due to the suspicion of spreading fake news.

The reason was the text entitled "The murdered criticized Milovan Bojić", in which the court judged that it was insinuated that the JUL official and the then director of the Dedinje Institute was responsible for the doctor's murder. 

"Slavko was of course aware of that danger. I told him after that verdict, "you know what, the darkness will eat you up. you have to see the option of leaving here". That job became very dangerous, and Milosevic's regime lost any balance, any sense of moral categories, not to mention , he never possessed that, but some sense, how far you can go, that was all canceled," said Branka Prpa.

"In the end, we see that the Milošević-Marković family becomes totally closed in their own world." They are informed by the information provided by people they trust, unprofessional state security, those who flatter them, and they lose any concept of space, time, social relations," explained Veran Matić.

While the Law on Public Information in Serbia disciplined the media, in the French castle of Rambouillet, close to Paris, negotiations were ongoing to resolve the crisis related to the situation in Kosovo in a peaceful way. 

After 21 days of unsuccessful negotiations, the peace conference collapsed - the Kosovo Albanian delegation signed the agreement offered by international negotiators, while the Serbian state delegation did not. 

The bombing of Serbia was increasingly certain. Slavko Ćuruvija, as well as other harsh critics of the authorities in Belgrade, are leaving for Montenegro.

"All the time, all those years while that resistance lasted, the conflict with the Milosevic regime, with such politics, you had people within the structure who would report to you." many anonymously, so they had information about what was going on. Slavko went to Podgorica to talk to Đukanović about going there when the attack starts and they had agreed on everything. He came back on March 21, and said I'm not going anywhere. I said "they will kill you", so he said "they can only shoot me, I can't do anything else", Prpa said.

The last threats - The text "Ćuruvija met the bombs" comes out

Ćuruvija welcomed the beginning of the bombing in Serbia. On March 24, 1999, without the approval of the United Nations Security Council, NATO began airstrikes. 

Just a day before, the editor-in-chief of radio B92, Veran Matić, was detained, without any order or solution. 

It was released on the day of the bombing, but the B92 radio was stripped of its receiver. 

They continued their work via the Internet until April 2, when Radio B92 was forcibly taken over, that is, kidnapped, by officials of the Socialist Party of Serbia.

"All 60 or so employees refused to work for the new newsroom and we started to gather in the Media Center, in Staklenac, and to reorganize, to see how we will manage to save the team, to save people," he said. Veran Matić.

The last editorial meeting of Europljanin journalists was held at the same place.

"We had a meeting of the editorial staff, in that Staklenac, and he then said: "You know what, people? There is a war, I will not make a newspaper for the censors. Wartime censorship has been introduced, I will not do it, but this aggression, what is being prepared to Yugoslavia, this is illegal, this is illegitimate, this is immoral, I will not tell you what to do if you receive calls for mobilization, I cannot tell anyone that, but we are patriots, we are not on that side, we are against of this", said Ljiljana Smajlović.

"What I know is that he received warnings even then that he needed to get out of Belgrade and that he simply didn't want to. I don't know exactly his motives, but it is possible that they are somewhere on this wave, that newspapers are no longer published and that it is already a state of war. Some focus should be on something else," Veran Matić added.

However, it will turn out that the focus has not moved far from Slavko Ćuruvija. A direct confrontation and a call for lynching followed. 

The article "Ćuruvija met the bombs" was published in Politica Express on April 6. 

It was signed by the journalist Miroslav Marković, while the chief and responsible editor of that paper was Đorđe Martić, and the general director of Politika, Hadži Dragan Antić. 

In it, Ćuruvija is labeled as a NATO traitor who calls for the bombing of his homeland. 

 "To me, the text in Ekspres seemed like a verdict, this is now roughly a tightening of the game, so the court verdict is not enough, it is not enough, it is not enough that the newspaper does not exist, this is now the domain of something personal", explained Bujošević. 

The text was also read in the central daily of Radio Television Belgrade - which was a precedent, and a clear sign that the government at that time was ready to do anything in the fight against journalists. 

In the text "Ćuruvija met the bombs" it is written:

For 13 days, the Nazi NATO armada has been sowing its burden of death, all those who, even before Kosovo, while the madness of the new world order was tearing apart beautiful Yugoslavia in blood, knew that the Serbs were the sole culprits and as such should be punished, and if at all possibly bombed. 

We are talking about Slavko Ćuruvija, who through "his" newspaper "Dnevni Telegraf" really did everything "necessary" in order to explain to the "democratic West" and to the "deluded Serbs" how they should "come to their senses" and turn around to the future, which is clearly "in the west". when is 

... Today, when those eagerly awaited and summoned bombs are killing Serbia, the traitors are silent. If they are waiting for Serbia and Serbia to be conquered, they are waiting in vain. And if they hoped that their betrayal would be forgotten, they hoped in vain.

 "That text is coming that we don't see in the newspaper, but we hear it in the evening on Dnevnik RTS." Where it resonated much more strongly, where it had a much stronger influence and the way of articulating the text itself, the transmission, was therefore a direct call for lynching and that immediately," said Veran Matić.

"I think all that was in order to present that Slavko Ćuruvija is actually a traitor to the people." "That the murder of Malten was justified, yes," said Miroslav Kos.

Easter 1999

Five days later, owner, editor and journalist Slavko Ćuruvija was killed in the center of Belgrade, between two air danger sirens. 

It was Easter, April 11, 1999.

"We went to Kolarac for lunch. We reached the passage, it was half past five in the afternoon, 11:32 and at one point, as they came from behind us, some huge dust arose, it was from shots and ricochets, and Slavko started to fall, I thought at one point that he is stuck on something. I was going to turn around to see what it was, at that moment someone hit me in the head. Slavko fell there next to me and while I was lying down I saw a man approaching with a gun and in front of me he shot Slavko in the head, then he came to me with the same gun. He hesitated for a while, I lay and looked at him, he at me, turned and left," explained Branka Prpa.

"I was informed that Slavko Ćuruvija was killed while I was in my house. Without thinking at all, my wife and I got dressed and went down the stairs, went out into the dark courtyard and then somewhere in the middle of the night I started thinking, I still remember it to this day, I said "what if someone is waiting for me too?". So I went a little faster," said Žanetić 

"Honestly, it never occurred to me that someone could decide to kill Slavko Ćuruvia. "To say I was shocked is an understatement," Kos said.

"I think it had a very chilling effect on the media community and had partly the effect they wanted to achieve." That murder was done in such a way to send a clear message that it will happen to everyone, if they happen to think that in some way they act and look or write or do as Slavko Ćuruvija did," explained Veran Matić.

Fear was also felt on April 14, when a column of citizens moved through Belgrade's New Cemetery for the funeral of Slavko Ćuruvija. 

Ljijana Smajlović, the editor of "Evropljanin", gave the speech and then said: "Slavko Ćuruvija was a brave man, unlike those who brutally killed him from behind, and those who brutally bombarded him from the sky."

"We can say that we were afraid, but I worked with Slavko, so it's better if I'm not there if I can't speak to him at the funeral." These were not occasions where you could say - "I'm afraid, so I won't do it now". "It was better that you were not there if you were not able to show up at a man's funeral and support him, to say I am the one, I was with him, I also stand behind it," Smajlović explained.

"But actually, the number of people who showed up there showed that there weren't too many who were scared." On the one hand, yes, they are afraid, and on the other hand, you can't say no, to show your solidarity with the man who was shot," said Voja Žanetić.

"We were at Branka's house, Ivan Radovanović and I, two or three days after the funeral." We leave that building and now you see a man as he is, two and a half meters tall, huge, bald, striking, that's what they call a Chinese escort in the services. In a city where no Chinese live, you are being followed by a Chinese person to let you know that someone is following you, to draw your attention. Then we stopped at a butcher's shop, Ivan and I, a man stood behind us and breathed down our necks," said Dragan Bujošević. 

The murder of Slavko Ćuruvija was a sign that the hunt for dissidents was open. And it was immediately clear to many that the state was behind the murder. 

The line was crossed, and the message was clear - no one is safe anymore. 

"You always have a problem when the state is a murderer." "When the state is a murderer, then the state constantly protects itself," concluded Branka Prpa.