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They had a turbulent youth. Today, 20 years later, they have something to remember. It’s just … some are still rebels, revolutionaries, and others are in business. “Blic” brings you the stories of prominent resistance fighters: if they are richer and how much, if they used power or not. Their life then and what they do now.
Srdjan Milivojevic: He had it all, and after October 5, a thick police file, he is still a rebel
Krusevac’s Srdjan Milivojevic was the oldest among the leading resistance fighters. He graduated in the 1990s and immediately after graduating he had a very successful private business. Fast food restaurant and pig farm. In Ante Markovic’s time, when a German mark was worth seven dinars, he had it all. He also turned down the assistant position at the Faculty of Agriculture, did not go abroad to continue his education. Srdjan Milovojevic earned several tens of thousands of marks at that time, he had properties in a Swiss bank.
– I really didn’t have the need to deal with it, to get into politics – says Miliovojevic for “Blic”.
However, already in his student days, he “protested in conversation and at the mention of Slobodan Milosevic’s name.”
– This is a man who did not understand that the Berlin Wall had fallen, who does not understand in which direction Europe and the world are going. I participate in the protests on March 9, 1991. They wounded me and a bullet hit me in the knee. I was stitched up and wrapped in Student City. I mobilized and I’m going to Vukovar ’91. Many of my friends died in the wars … After that, the war began in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which we claim not to participate … Their military IDs say they are volunteers, not mobilized, which is true. I had a great desire to overthrow Slobodan Milosevic in the Vidovdan Parliament, I experienced great disappointment when Milan Panic did not defeat Slobodan Milosevic – says our interlocutor.
However, he had his own business, he had no peace. For convenience, he couldn’t just be an observer of suffering. The 92 student protest collapsed. year, there were many protests and violent demonstrations, in which the police used all possible brutal means to deal with the protesters.
– When ’96. Milosevic caught stealing, great hope awakened. Since ’91. he and Vojislav Seselj are my two biggest traitors and enemies of the state. With the election of Zoran Djindjic as mayor of Belgrade and the removal of the five-legged one from the Old Palace, I thought we would do a great thing that will have its epilogue with the fall of Milosevic. In those protests, I noticed a new generation of students, they were made up of Srdja Popovic, Nenad Konstatinovic, Homen, Milja … however, all that energy was dissipated by the opposition agreeing to Pir’s victory and winning cities – Milivojevic recalls.
Soon, the threat of war loomed over Kosovo and Metohija.
– “Otpor” appears in public for the first time in 98. years. I knew Slavko Ćuruvija, I knew Zoran Đinđić very well. And sadly, there is a war. All my friends, relatives go to war … I am already a member of “Otpor”. Unfortunately, my own brother is being mobilized in a unit that collects cluster bombs and measures radioactivity. My uncle’s brother was seriously injured in Kosovo and Metohija … What was the straw that was spilled on my glass at the time of the signing of the Kumanovo capitulation, when Milosevic drove the Serbian police and army out of Kosovo and Metohija, and my brother was forgotten in Kosovo and Metohija? And my friend from school. Nobody told them that the withdrawal was … My brother was lucky to be captured by KFOR and he was saved from being killed, and my friend was returning on foot from Gjakova, he traveled to Krusevac for 17 days – says Milivojevic.
On the same day that his brother arrived from Kosovo and Metohija, Milivojevic “got in the car”, found Srdja Popovic and took the first “Otpor” material.
– And he explained that “Resistance” should not be a student but a popular resistance movement. I dedicated 24 hours a day to the fight against Milosevic. In all public appearances, I said – “if we do not replace Milosevic, Seselj and Mira Markovic, the next refugees will be us from Krusevac …” I welcomed the time before October 5 as the man who travels the most in Serbia. I spent my money and it seems ridiculous to me even today when I hear we got paid for that fight. It is not at all debatable that the West helped Serbia then, and not for the first time in its history. My grandfather, the commander of the assault company of the 10th Infantry Regiment, received a French rifle, a French uniform and a machine gun, a loaf of French bread in Corfu … to fight for Serbia, and not because he was a French mercenary . When I hear some people today evoking the farewell speech of Slobodan Milosevic, who claimed that we would be puppets in the hands of the West and lose our national symbols, I literally don’t feel right. Where will you lose the loss of national identity when that man changed Gazimestan for “Bambilend” … – Milivojevic points out, adding:
– What is important to me, that October 5 is the most magnificent day in the recent history of Serbia. She does not belong to political parties or the “Resistance”. It belongs to all the citizens of this country, who for the first time after 55 years breathed a sigh of relief with full lungs – says our interlocutor.
Even after October 5, Srdjan Milivojevic still had his own fast food restaurant and a serious police file.
– In relation to that time, it has changed in my life the fact that today I am 20 years older, that I no longer have a private job in Serbia, because I left it the day I became a deputy in 2007. I did it so that Someone did not scare me if I had a privileged position and if I did not control the tax or health … I did not have, nor did I want any executive function in the government. Even today I have a new private job, but in one of the neighboring countries I remain committed to fighting this regime. We are not fighting for power but for freedom – says Milivojevic.
Nenad Konstantinović Neca: He had a turbulent youth, today he is a lawyer, married and father of two children
Long before October 5, “Otpor” made a poster of Slobodan Milosevic from behind. “Otpor” was sure that in 2000 there would be a change of government. On that day, the trainee lawyer and the main coordinator of “Otpor”, Neca, leaves the house, completely determined to defend the victory obtained in the elections.
– For us in “Otpor”, there was no dilemma about whether we would be successful. I am proud even today of that defense of the will of the citizens without a drop of blood. Milosevic was changed by the citizens of Serbia, who voted convincingly for the opposition, and was changed by the citizens who took to the streets throughout Serbia to defend that electoral victory, says Konstatinovic.
He adds that October 5 should be a holiday:
– And that it be celebrated as an official celebration of democracy and in honor of the brave citizens who demonstrated their desire for freedom that day.
That October 5, “Otpor” had his own column and the famous ‘wolf car’ speaker with music on his forehead. They toured certain parts of the city, especially along the highway.
– We are in 2000, that is, from the summer of 99. until October 5, they had meetings every day in the Otpor office. Designed. We have all sacrificed a part of our lives, professional advancement, to win freedom in Serbia. I received an offer to continue my studies abroad, but I stayed in Serbia. Most of us from “Otpor” met during the student protests – says Konstatinović.
Today he is a lawyer. It has its own office. Father of two children. Happily married. We catch him while “learning math” with an older child.
– I take care of children and promotion … I remained politically engaged through “Serbia 21”, says our interlocutor.
Neca was a member of the Assembly for various terms, Chairman of the Assembly of the municipality of Savski Venac in Belgrade. He was not in the executive branch.
– It is not possible to compare when you are 20 years old and the whole world in front of you and this time now that I have a responsibility towards the family that I support. I have had a turbulent youth since ’96. but even after 2000, when we contributed to making Serbia a better place to live … Absolutely, I have no regrets. All that changed the course of history, Serbia went from war to peace. Who knows how long the then regime would introduce us to wars and how long they would last. I am so proud of that period and of October 5 that I really believe that it should be a celebration of the spirit of freedom of the citizens, says Konstatinović.
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