Cedomir Jovanovic, who was sent by the Department of Homeland Security to negotiate his surrender with Slobodan Milosevic during the dramatic events of late March 2001, could have become a detainee in Villa Mir.
Government seal on a bag
The then head of security for the former president, Siniša Vučinić, testified about that, who revealed to Kurir that it was he who proposed the kidnapping of Jovanović to Milošević.
– It happened between the first and second arrival of Ceda to the town. That second time, he brought the seal of the Government of Serbia, in a bag, in his pocket. While we waited for him to return, I spoke to Slobo. He didn’t let us attack them, so he said, “Okay, do you have any other proposal than to fight?” I replied: “President, let’s take Chad hostage, let him live with us like this without electricity and water, to feel what they are doing to us. The Hague “. However, he immediately said, “It’s out of the question! For God’s sake, we’re going on a peaceful path,” Vucinic told Kurir.
He claims that he did not plan to tie up Jovanović and harass him, but to buy time by keeping him inside the villa.
– We could have detained him without ties and without violence, we had a door, a key, and he is not outside. I saw that the devil took the joke. My plan was for them not to start the raid and arrest immediately, because I calculated that Kostunica would cheer up, as well as the army, that at least 80,000 people would pass in front of the village in a moment, and that would be all different. A high-ranking DOS official gave me information and I knew everything. They sent Chad to negotiations because he was completely irrelevant, they euthanized him. Perhaps they also believed that a hostage situation was possible, ”Vucinic said.
Jovanovic shut up
We were unable to get to the comments of Jovanović, who was the head of the DOS parliamentary group at the time.
Milosevic’s lawyer Toma Fila, who is another actor in the aforementioned negotiations, tells our newspaper that no one mentioned the kidnapping before him.
– All I know is that Vucinic and his men were guarding the gates. I may have suggested that to Milosevic, but I don’t know about that. I don’t even see the point in holding Jovanovic hostage. It was inevitable that this drama would end like this. Should we have fought? The DOS mistake was sending Chad into negotiations. Djindjic and Kostunica were supposed to come. But nobody trusted anybody – explains Fila.
Nikola Sainovic
PEACE AND FREEDOM DEPENDED ON EACH OTHER
photo: Marina Lopicic
Milosevic’s close collaborator Nikola Sainovic told Kurir that the “Family” series so far has portrayed these dramatic events authentically. As he himself explains, he was then in the leadership of the SPS in New Belgrade:
– From the game, I coordinated the situation on the ground and, of course, I often heard from Milosevic in those days. The series follows the events as they were, but I’m waiting for a message at the end. That will be determined by my court. The work of the actors is great, it is not easy to be Milosevic on the screen. He was full of inner spirit and he wasn’t so sad. The relationship between Mira and Sloba is authentically presented, it is that relationship of great connection, interdependence and Mira’s expectation that Sloba will solve the problem. And through the chaos in the government then, it is clear that they will go all the way. The blackout marked the way to a radical end.
Ivkovic discovered the unknown
We suspected he would be hijacked by a helicopter, we were bloody
photo: Beta Dragan Gojić
Branislav Ivković, a former high-ranking SPS official, commenting on the “Family” series, said that everything was really as shown, except for one thing, adding that the massacre in Villa Mir was avoided on the night of Milošević’s arrest. . There were many guns in the house that night, he confirmed, but Milosevic did not take them. Ivkovic explained that there was a suspicion that a NATO helicopter would come to kidnap the former FRY president, and that the weapon would be used for defense.
– That was a cruel and difficult truth for Milosevic, but he was aware of the situation he was in and did everything possible to save the people around him and the people in the residence – Ivkovic told TV Prva and added :
– He broke a unit in our legs, we were bloody. They took us so they could enter. On the other side of the village, from the next street, my man calls me and tells me that there are very few there, that the police are invading and they don’t know what to do. At that time, Cedomir Jovanovic joined in and said: “We are reasonable people, let’s solve this peacefully.”
He also explained what it was like to introduce Jovanovic to Villa Mir to negotiate with Milosevic:
– I went in front of him, so that mine wouldn’t shoot him, Legija went behind him so that his people wouldn’t shoot Jovanović.
Kurir.rs/ Ivana Kljajić / Photo: Marina Lopičić, Dragan Kadić, Profimedia
