Čedomir Jovanović: Tonight Serbia Should Have Been Told the Truth about Karadžić, Milošević and Their Ilk

BELGRADE, (Patria) - The 16th civil protest "One in Five Million" was held in Belgrade under the name "Same Demands – No Retreat".

Those gathered were first addressed by actor Branislav Lečić. He said that the demands of the protesters are the resignations of President Aleksandar Vučić, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and Speaker of the Parliament Maja Gojković.

The protesters again demanded the resignations of the management of RTS and the members of the REM, as well as ensuring conditions for fair elections within six to nine months.
After Lečić's address, the anthem "Bože pravde" was played on the plateau and a minute of silence was held for the victims of the NATO bombing in 1999.
Retired General Sreto Malinović stated that "the state is run by the same people who push the thesis that their predecessors lost Kosovo."

LDP leader Čedomir Jovanović, on the other hand, stated that "if today representatives of part of the opposition did not have the strength to tell the gathered protesters the truth about what happened in the 1990s, let them be silent forever."

"Tonight's protest in Belgrade surpasses the nationalist madness we saw on the bridges in 1999. What they did tonight is not an attack on Vučić. It is an attack on the future of a normal Serbia, it is a threat and a message that our children will be condemned to the life we lived, because we retreat before what is obvious," said Jovanović, adding:

"The key problem of Serbia is the Kosovo problem and it is a question of the future of all of us. Everything that has been done so far through protests has been abused. People's dissatisfaction has been abused and something has been done that is against every normal person in Serbia. And someone has to say that, to step forward courageously and declare themselves on what we heard tonight.

Now it is clear – the 30-point program was also written so that it would not be seen that only one, the most important point is missing, and that is Serbia in the European Union, and therefore Serbia at peace with the Kosovo Albanians, which would ensure lasting peace in the region. That is the only way we can create a chance for our children to live as no one has ever lived in Serbia – as people born in peace, growing up in peace, starting families in peace, without the fear of war that destroyed our lives.

Tonight Serbia should have been told the truth about Karadžić, Milošević and their ilk. How we bloodied our hands because of their irresponsible politics. How one was convicted of war crimes, and the other simply did not live to see justice served and be convicted.

And it was not an incident when the government and the 'real opposition' united in silence about the Karadžić verdict. And tonight they told us that on their list of priorities are not confronting war crimes and human rights, because otherwise the scandalous speech dedicated to the beginning of the bombing of Yugoslavia cannot be explained.

Tonight, instead of nationalist madness, Thaçi, Haradinaj and Vučić should have been called to talk. Because that is in the interest of all of us. The exact opposite was done. 

Tonight the truth should have been told – at Košare, Paštrik, in the MiGs, people died who were victims of irresponsible politics, that we paid the price because of Serbian nationalism, which is still ready to devour us and our children. 

The victims of the bombing were also abused tonight. 

If we truly want to respect the innocent victims and show respect for those who defended this country, then we cannot ignore the fact that March 24, 1999 was a consequence of a very irresponsible policy, a policy full of crimes and mistakes that our state pursued and from which it still has not distanced itself in an adequate way.

In Serbia today, one actress has more courage to tell the truth than all of them combined. There is no future in walks with nationalists, nor in the footsteps of Radovan Karadžić, whom they justify and glorify. We know where that leads," concluded Jovanović, as reported by Patria.