“they Killed their allies that the job of RTS declared a legitimate military target, contrary to all established rules and customs of war, although they were aware that there are civilians doing a job,” said Miroslav médicis, brother of the deceased designer programs Sinisa Medica.
Serbs were also interested in the answers to the following questions: why is no one from NATO countries, carried out the aggression without the approval of the UN security Council, do not answer for the crimes and why and to whom it was necessary that 16 innocent people in the building lost their lives?
Serbian journalist Igor gojkovic then worked as Deputy head of foreign broadcasting of RTS. He recalls that night at his workplace was the journalist angelina Vucic, the mother of the current President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic.
“By luck she survived the blast only threw 10 meters – he writes in his article “Yugoslavia under attack: to silence the Yugoslav media”, published in the journal international life. – That night we, those who worked in the television station, none of the leaders have not previously advised or ordered to leave the building. At the time, Vucic was information Minister in the Serbian government, and it is, of course, would not allow his mother to suffer, if he had evidence that the building will be bombed”.
meanwhile, stressed gojkovic, from foreign journalists received informal signals that something like this would happen. “At that time, almost all foreign TV broadcasters in Belgrade, covering the aggression, used a technique RTS, – said the journalist. – The leased premises in the building of RTS was the American CNN and NBC, since the beginning of April, they were forbidden to use satellite communications from other places, except the building of RTS. Foreigners soon became clear that this building is not a safe place, especially after the statement of the NATO spokesman David Wilby, who openly threatened that the state media in Yugoslavia will be attacked “if they do not stop lying”. On April 6, foreign journalists, their bosses recommended to avoid building addresses Takovska, 10 and Aberdareva, 1 (connected complex of buildings RTS) and not to go on an already planned evening stretches for sending materials via satellite. However, rumors about what features will be bombed in the coming period, there were many, and had a lot of doubts about their reliability. The crew of CNN and NBC completely left the television station a few days before the bombing of the RTS. After that, even those who have not been directly warned of the danger, all was clear.”
gojkovic recalls that destroyed part of the building of RTS is still not restored. “She remained standing��s as a constant reminder of the crime of NATO aggressors and injustice of the insane time – he points out. And right in front of the television center building in the Park Tasmajdan with 16 monument to the victims of NATO posted the question “Why?”.
it is Worth noting that the respected American war reporter Jeremy Scahill, writer, researcher at The Nation Institute, who devoted his life to the investigation of the wars waged by the U.S. around the world, apologized to the Serbian colleagues and their relatives for the aggression of NATO and the United States against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
“I’m here to apologize to the families of the 16 employees of Radio television Serbia killed in the bombing. I did it primarily as people, and only then as a journalist. And these people deserve much more than my apology. They deserve not only an apology to the US and NATO, they deserve to know the truth. Deserve a meeting with the people who killed their loved ones – from pilot to President bill Clinton – and see how these people answer for the crimes committed”, – he said in an interview with RTS.
Scahill covering in the 1999 events in Yugoslavia, shared their memories. “Not a week passes that I do not think the bombing of the RTS building. And let’s be honest, it was murder, – he stated. They killed 16 people. It was a premeditated murder committed by USA and NATO. I believe that we (the Americans) crossed the forbidden line by the bombing of the RTS, than opened up the opportunity for governments worldwide to declare journalists as legitimate targets. Years later, I’d say it was a watershed moment in the modern history wars”.
Scahill drew attention to the fact that the Hague Tribunal does not investigate the crimes of the United States. “And even if you try to do this, the American position is the following: we cannot be the judge of any international court, – he explains. – Us international law does not apply. This principle began to be adopted by other countries. UK reflects on the opportunity to distance themselves from international conventions, under which could be condemned by their military officials. It is a form of the truth of the winners, but for the victims ‘ families is not a political issue. It’s their life.”
What was the reason for such inhumane actions “of the democratic military-political bloc” led by the Americans?
So what about this told Prime Minister Tony Blair: “the media is the apparatus that holds Milosevic in power, and we have every right to strike such targets”. Their leader was supported by the Guardian. Journalists Martin Cetl and Maggie O Kane wrote that “NATO bombed the center… the spread of the influence of Milosevic, when in the early morning hours struck suthe proposal of the Serbian state television during the news.” But they forgot to say that at that moment, April 23 at 2 hours 6 minutes in the same “miloshevichsky center of influence” were only cameramen, sound engineers and makeup artists.
it Should be recalled that in 2000, the international organization human rights Human Rights Watch, which can hardly be suspected of anti-Western sentiments, declared that there was no reason for the bombing of the RTS building.
Notable is the fact that in 2007 the Chairman of the state Council of Cuba Fidel Castro has accused the former Prime Minister of Spain, josé Maria Aznar, that he called on Americans to bomb the building of the Serbian radio and television stations during NATO attack on Serbia. According to Castro, this call was made in a telephone conversation Aznar and officials from Washington, printouts of which were at the disposal of the commander.
“In my opinion, to win this war is necessary to interrupt the connection between Belgrade and the Serbian people – it is necessary to destroy communications, radio, television and telephone,” Reuters quoted attributed to the Spanish ex-Prime Minister of the word.
the Bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by NATO forces began March 24 and ended on 10 June 1999. The operation was called “allied force” and its necessity was explained by the presence of Yugoslav forces on the territory of the Autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija and conducting ethnic cleansing there. As a result, the air attack has been a strategically important military and civilian targets in Belgrade, Pristina, Uzice, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Podgorica, was made 35 thousand combat aviabiletov, which involved about a thousand planes and helicopters dropped 79 thousand tons of explosives (including 156 containers with 37 440 cluster bombs, prohibited by international law).
According to estimates by the Yugoslav side, during the bombing the total number of deaths of civilians exceeded 2.5 thousand people, about 10 thousand people were seriously injured. Missing 821 people, most of whom are Serbs. Material damage to the state amounted to 29.6 billion dollars.
in addition, today already forgotten, that in September 2000 the Belgrade district court in absentia has considered the criminal case against William Clinton, Madeleine Albright, William Cohen, Tony Blair, Robin cook, George Robertson, Jacques Chirac, Hubert védrine, Alain Richard, Gerhard schröder, Josef Fischer, Rudolf Scharping, Javier Solana and Wesley Clark. The court found them guilty of crimes against the FRY, specifying the punishment to imprisonment for a term of twenty years.
