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October 5, 2000. People from all over Serbia are coming to Belgrade. Big protests are being prepared. At that time, people still don’t know what the meeting will be like. Not the disgruntled citizens of Serbia, not the others who took those citizens out onto the streets, not the third parties for whom the protest is organized.
No one could say with certainty what he expected and was sure that events that would change the course of Serbia would occur on October 5. The protests were successful. Milosevic fell. However, the background of the story speaks of how much tension reigned before the organization of the events that later buzzed in the world media.
Milorad Ulemek Legija, the JSO commander, was supposed to be on standby with his unit that day, to react and thwart attempts by dissatisfied people to overthrow the government. Milosevic trusted him. He hoped that this unit, as before, would stick with him and show that he, as president, is untouchable. He hoped that he would open fire on people, if necessary, and that the protest would end faster than it started. What he did not expect was that Legija would have a meeting with the leader of the opposition, Zoran Djindjic, the night before “D-Day”.
Who called who
It is still unknown how that meeting came about. Djindjic, who did not like talking about that fact very much but confirmed it, said Legija sent him a request for a meeting. On the other hand, Ulemek claims that it was the future prime minister who demanded to see and speak.
“This is the man sent by Zoran Djindjic to tell me that he wants to meet me,” Milorad Bracanovic, the then JSO security officer, quoted Legija at the time as he introduced Dusan Spasojevic Shiptar to him on the night of October 4.
According to Bracanovic’s statements at the time, Legija was not sure if he wanted and should go, but at his urging he got in the car with Spasojevic and went to a meeting.
On the other hand, Djindjic said that he was the one who received Legija’s invitation for a meeting. Also, he wasn’t sure if he should leave. He thought he was being charged with murder, so he consulted with his wife.
“I’m sure he’s going to kill you, whether you left or not,” were his wife’s words.
Zoran Djindjic and Milorad Ulemek Legija met on October 4 at around 6 pm on Dobrinjska Street. The legion arrived in an armored jeep belonging to Zoran Uskokovic Skolet, which was liquidated a few months earlier. With him was Dušan Spasojević, armed to the teeth, as well as Ljubiša Buha Čuma.
During the conversation, Djindjic allegedly asked the JSO to arrest Rade Markovic, to which Legija categorically refused, but asked if NATO would have a role in the protests, as well as if the opposition planned attacks on police stations, barracks and the like. . He received, as they say, the answer to calm down, that none of this was planned, but only the inauguration of a well-earned government.
It may never be known if they agreed to something that night. But what could be noticed is that the Legion did not attack the people in the streets the next day.
Praising the JSO during the protest
The JSO members were hardened warriors and, as noted above, at key moments on October 5, they were counted on by both the opposition and the government.
At one point, hammers that were recognizable vehicles of this unit appeared from the crowd. It is not yet clear who took them out onto the street, but the vehicles of this unit were shot several times during the protest.
In his book “October 5,” Rade Markovic, the then head of the Department of State Security, wrote that he was the one who brought the JSOs out onto the streets and that they obeyed all his orders.
“At one point, the JSO commander told me to shoot them too,” Markovic said.
“The Legion played a key role. He got out of the vehicle under fire, climbed on the hood, took off his mask and people recognized him, addressed him as the Legion. He said, ‘What’s up, brothers, love, stop to shoot? ‘ He raised three fingers. So he did not give up or endanger anyone’s life, “Markovic explained.
However, be it because of the meeting with Djindjic or something else entirely, Legija sided with the people that day.
People started kissing their hammers, and the JSO members, who until just moments ago were afraid to look at them, now hug, kiss and praise them.
If he had obeyed Milosevic and stood by his side, it is possible that there would have been bloodshed in front of the Assembly. And maybe not.
In any case, after the change of government, the OSJ returned to its daily activities at the “Kula” and “Lipovica” bases near Belgrade, and hymns began to be talked about.
Few people have realized that the JSO is not the unit that people think it is. That there are people in their ranks with bloody hands up to the knees, that many are engaged in criminal activities and that they must disband as soon as possible.
These claims eventually came true, as the members of this unit were associated with many criminal clans and criminal activities.
In the end, the cruelty of the individuals in this unit was paid for by Zoran Djindjic himself, on March 12, 2003.
(Kurir.rs/Alo, D. Ćuruvija)
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