Serbia

Is a tour of Karadzic's old haunts dangerous?

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:43:45 +0200

The teaser poster for the Karadzic tour.

Radovan Karadzic is currently under lock and key in The Hague, awaiting his trial on war-crimes charges. His spirit still lingers in the streets of Belgrade however, where a tourist company is launching a tour around his old haunts.

Karadzic is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in the ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian war in the early 1990s - including the killing of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men at Srebrenica. However, after his arrest on July 21, thousands of Serbs took to the streets in Belgrade to demonstrate against his capture, resulting in violent confrontations with the police. The event showed that the Serbian capital is far from settled.

Nevertheless, tourist agency Vekol Tours has decided to launch a tour around Belgrade that will allow visitors to follow in Karadzic's footsteps by visiting places he frequented in his disguise as an alternative healer. Here are some extracts of the itinerary posted on their website:

"New Belgrade, where last Radovan Karadzic residence was - Block 45 and Jurija Gagarina St. First, we will follow Karadzic morning and go to the bakery shop for a breakfast - home made potato pie, which was his favorite morning meal (...) we will say good morning to the local kiosk and buy some newspaper. (...) we will visit grocery shop where Karadzic was favorite customer. After a short break in a park, checking newspaper and chat with his neighbors, maybe with one cold beer on foot, we will end up in front of the building where he used to live as well as bus station of 73 city bus line and take some photos for a memory. Luda Kuca local pub is waiting for us as a best part of a tour. So, in this rustic ambient, we will try to enjoy like he used to, maybe catching some memories and moments of his stormful life (...). We need to check famous pancakes in Pinocchio pancake shop (...). Of course, specialty that waits for us is Karadzic pancake. On our return to the city center, we will have panorama sightseeing of Special Court, where, after he was captured, Karadzic stays before going to Hag."

Was AFP fooled by a fake?

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:13:08 +0200

A photo taken from Karadzic's alleged perosnal site.

Agence France Presse this afternoon released a dispatch about what they say is the personal website of Rodovan Karadzic. According to the site, the former Serbian leader spent his travelling in the name of health, and is now an advocate for alternative forms of medicine. A blogger explains why it could be fake.

The dispatch, which was picked up by French daily Le Monde's website at 1pm, explained that "under the name of Dr. Dragen Dabic, Radovan Karadzic (...) put a fictional biography online in the hope of diverting potential leads from the authorities". The news agency also took quotes from the site, including Chinese proverbs supposedly posted online by the former Serbian politician (e.g. "Behind every able man, there are always other able men"). The information does seem credible, as Rodovan Karadzic, a trained psychologist, converted to alternative forms of medicine and worked in a clinic in Belgrade under the name of Dragan Dabic.

European bloggers Kosmopolit however, say that it is in fact a fake. They explain that a quick search of the domain names database (Who's) proves that the site was created on... 22 July this year. Which was after Karadzic's arrest. According to them, the site was made by someone having a laugh, and AFP just didn't get the joke. This is not set in stone of course, but it does raise serious suspicions that the agency might have been fooled.

"The kids are not to blame"

Julien — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:58:57 +0100

A protest in Belgrade of 150,000 people against the independence of Kosovo turned into a mass riot yesterday. Serbians are rallying against those who recognise the independence of Kosovo, and yesterday voiced their anger by storming the US embassy in Belgrade and vandalising others. The result: a hundred injured and one dead.

Kosovo sold to the grim reaper

Julien — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:24:45 +0100

The self-proclaimed autonomy of Kosovo angered many Russians, not least these young dramatists who blame the move on the US, who according to them is responsible for selling the country to the grim reaper.

"We've earned our independence"

Julien — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:21:16 +0100

Our Observer from Pristina react to the declaration of independence of Kosovo. For Kushtrim Xhakli, this achievement after a long struggle means that the country can become an investment zone for foreign companies, especially in the new-technology sector.

UPADATE (22 February 2008) : We had originally published the comment of a Serbian blogger on the independance of Kosovo, but he has asked us to remove his post.

Serbs in Kosovo appeal to Russia for help

Julien — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:57:35 +0100

Results from the first round of the Serbian elections are in, and it's nationalist-leaning Tomislav Nikolic who's in the lead. While Kosovo's independence seems inevitable from a western point of view, Serbs in the area do not agree. Nikolic's pro-Russian rhetoric has been rewarded by the Serbian population there, who think that only the Russians can save them from independence. In the town Kosovska Mitrovica, support for Russia is more than evident. Our Estonian Observer tells us about the situation in the town.