Mile Dedakovic Jasterb – Croatia, the War, and the Future

New lies about Tudjman announce new aggression against Croatia

dr Franjo Tudjman addresses the United Nations General Assembly 22 May 1992

By Dr. Slobodan Lang – 14 December 2012
(Translated by Ina Vukic)

On the 2nd of June of this year I went to Medjugorje and kneeled beside the visionary Mirjana, as she was receiving a message from Our Lady. I prayed for the freedom of Generals Gotovina and Markac. On the Day of Assumption of Virgin Mary, together with Mario Filipi, the war veterans and the young (led by Filip Kustro and Matea Kemenji), we crossed 25 kilometers to Aljmas. From day to day, during the past month, we prayed for the freedom of the Generals across Croatia. And it happened. It does not matter how much the lawyers and the Judges, how much the prayers and the truth contributed to this freedom. The indictment against Croatia, against defenders, against the politics of independence and against President Tudjman was rejected.

Only in Serbia and among some Serbs in Croatia was the astonishment greater than among Croatians across the world and Croatians in Croatia.

Despite everything, the reaction in Serbia came as a surprise. The reaction in Serbia was based on some incomprehensible expectation that the world considers the Serbs to be better than any other Balkan nationality. That the aggression, the occupation, the intent to change sovereign borders, ethnic persecutions and genocide over the Albanians, the Bosniacs and the Croatians are forgotten, and that the only victims of that time were the Serbs from Croatia, who were incited into rebellion by their leaders into chasing Croatians from their homes, into attack against Bihac, the danger of another genocide and finally into taking the very Serbs out of Croatia, leaving and abandoning some 10,000 of their own elderly, whom we saved in the Action «Let’s Save Life».

With the politics of their own leadership, the Serbian people (according to God equal to all other people) have in the past been led into crime and today, into the nonexistent world of North Korea and other totalitarian states of time past. It’s for the benefit of the Serbian people that they realise the truth and to join the other nations of the world as equals. This goes for some Serb leaders in Croatia, as well. They could begin by recanting the three undemocratic, automatic representatives in the Parliament which they gained through the corruption on Ivo Sanader. The rest of the Serbs could begin by publicly rejecting the lies about hundreds of thousands of victims in Jasenovac, because of which thousands of true victims could not be stated for decades, Yad Vashem deceived and Bogdan Bogdanovic (author of the Jasenovac statue) gifted to me his drawing upon which he wrote «Doctor, forgive me».

Authorities were caught by surprise. They did not expect freedom for the Generals, and I do not know whether they wanted it. All Croatian politics since year 2000 were led to hand the Generals over, neglect of their families and unwilling legal defence. They expected convictions against the Generals, against Operation Storm, against President Tudjman, against the whole of Croatian defence …

In Croatia, people were immesurably joyous and organised celebrations, bestowing upon the Generals certificates of honorary citizens, held Masses and celebrated in any which way they could.

After the Generals were freed and criminal enterprise rejected by the world court, the first one who managed to find his way out was President Josipovic – he invited all the Croatian Generals to his office. The former President attacked the current President for receiving the Generals who had defended and liberated Croatia from Serb aggression (whose president was this), who prevented genocide over other people and who were pronounced innocent by the international court. He also attacked the church and the faithful for praying for the truth and justice. He attacked the prayer.

Zoran Pusic, from the quasi civil, quasi organisation for human rights, in the Spring of this year, after the ICTY Trial Chamber’s judgment, assessed «disappointment of Croatian public with the severe punishment imposed upon the Generals was due to the fact that the media had spread false hopes that the Generals could get a mild sentence.» Just before the final judgment he stated that there was no doubt that a criminal enterprise existed. After the final judgment (the acquittal of the Generals) he remains quiet and does not show himself in public. He still hasn’t tendered his resignation from the position he has held for more than twenty years, President of the Civic Committee for Human Rights and there has been no other member who has ever spoken for that organisation, perhaps Pusic is its only member and is in conflict of family interests. Sister and brother, rule and accuse.

….

Confusion regarding the Hague judgment lasted only a few days. Initially there were attempts to push the opinion that the judgment meant that now is the time to pursue Croatian crimes. That appeared pale and inadequately convincing. Reactions from Serbia, Pupovac (Milorad) and Mesic (Stjepan) crossed the borders of good taste. «Human Rights» organisations went silent – except Helsinky committee from Belgrade whose president Sonja Biserko calmly repeated that Serbia must accept what it had done.

Already, after a few days, they recognise that further aggression against Croatia requires internal division among Croatian people, the Catholic church, the war veterans and President Tudjman. Always and again – a new attack against President Franjo Tudjman.

Currently there’s one of the dirtiest scenarios ever being carried out.

Tudjman’s guilt is being transferred from acquitted guilt for “Operation Storm” crimes against Serbs and liberation of Croatia in 1995, to guilt for a bad Croatian defence in 1991 and the then torture of Vukovar commander Mile Dedakovic – Hawk.

In order to show Dedakovic’s current health state the Croatian television broadcasts ethically impermissible images of the patient and abuses human suffering, for which they accuse President Tudjman through usage of 20 years old film footage. Guided by NKVD (Peoples’ Commissariat for Internal Affairs) oder No. 00447 from 1937 Tudjman is instantly proclaimed guilty for Dedakovic’s current illness and suffering.

According to this Mile Dedakovic’s current health state cannot be blamed on the current President Ivo Josipovic, who is also the commander of the army, who does not follow up on the health of war veterans or their commanders or on the minister for war veterans Fred Matic, whose job in the government is to do that or on the minister for health Rajko Ostojic, who announced the politics of health nor can the doctors who should care for Dedakovic’s health be blamed …

In their public presentations the official media don’t call upon Josip Manolic, don’t state the members of the committee that produced the report, don’t state the names of those who tortured Dedakovic, don’t state the names of the doctors who treated him then, and don’t state the names of those who care for his health today and who are the only ones qualified to assess Dedakovic’s medical status now, before and for the future.

The goal of this shameful media action is not at all to help Mile Dedakovic-Hawk nor to help any other Croatian war veteran. The goal is to once again attack with lies and blacken President Franjo Tudjman in front of Croatian war veterans and the nation.

More than 20 years ago I contacted Dedakovic in Vinkovci, beginning of October 1991, and then in Zagreb.

As an adviser, on 28th February 1996, I sent the following to President Franjo Tudjman: “Dear President, I maintain constant contact with Mile Dedakovic – Hawk, trying to relieve the wounds as much as possible. I believe that in the coming period it would be useful for him to assist with the return to Vukovar. He has expressed that he wants to meet with you and I believe that such a meeting would solve all the differences. I await your decision.”

After that, today’s Academic, Ivica Kostovic, met with Dedakovic and he can inform about everything that was agreed upon.

Finally, and for all who wish to accept, I’ll conclude with my own life’s disposition which I have gained through numerous mistakes, painful experiences, learning, dangers and time spent within the Croatian nation.

I had worked together with President Franjo Tudjman for six years during the years of defending and creating Croatia. I have been alone with him, on travels with him, corresponded with him, at meetings with him, at assemblies, in his company … 1000 times. I got to know him well and I know President Franjo Tudjman as a man. Every man has his weaknesses and makes mistakes, so too Tudjman, everyone and I. Nevertheless, I emphasise that in public life I have never met a man who has more successfully connected the good and the vitality than President Franjo Tudjman. I am convinced that without him we would not have succeeded in creating or defending Croatia.

The crimes of Jasenovac, Bleiburg, the judgment against Aloysius Stepinac, the crimes of Goli Otok, the crimes after the Croatian Spring, the aggression against Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina … are always followed by the aggression of media lies, concealment, partial and twisted truth.

Vukovarans, veterans of the 204th, Branko Borkovic Hawk, detainees of Serb concentration camps, Danijel Rehak – do you accuse Franjo Tudjman?

All of you who think that the Croatian future must be based on faith in God, love for one’s own family and nation, with the respect of all people and good neighbourly relations with all countries – consider!

Consider the truth, consider your attitudes and have the strength to defend and represent them.
If you won’t defend Tudjman. Who will?
If you won’t defend the Generals, who will?
If you won’t defend Croatia, who will?
If you won’t defend anybody, who will defend you?
If you won’t believe in Christ, how will you believe in yourself.

Dr Slobodan Lang Photo: Pixsell

About dr. Slobodan Lang. Born to Jewish family 8 October 1945 in Zagreb, Croatia. Physician, author, writer, politician and former personal adviser to the first Croatian President dr. Franjo Tudjman. His paternal grandfather Ignjat was the president of the Jewish community in Vinkovci (Croatia) and his grandmother Terezija was a housewife. In 1941 Catholic priest Hijacint Bošković, distinguished Dubrovnik and Croatian Dominican, was engaged in an extraordinary attempt to rescue the Langs from Nazi persecution. Bošković traveled from Dubrovnik to Vinkovci with a special permit that allowed him to relocate the Langs to Dubrovnik. Langs grandfather refused to leave, saying that he “was the president of Jews in peace and he will stay one in the war”. Both of his grandparents were killed in the concentration camp during the Holocaust. He graduated at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine and is a specialist in social medicine. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slobodan_Lang)

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation hacked phones, Croatian TV doctored story on fall of Vukovar

The well publicised scandal of the discovery of phone hacking practices (July 2011) within some of Rupert Murdoch owned News Corporation media outlets unleashed a string of inquiries in the United Kingdom. Similar inquiries were announced in the USA and Australia.

Murdoch swiftly killed-off the News of the World newspaper where first phone hacking practices were discovered.

The United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron promptly announced to parliament that a public government inquiry would convene to further investigate the affair. He named Lord Justice Leveson as chairman of the inquiry, with a remit to look into the specific claims about phone hacking, the initial police inquiry and allegations of illicit payments to police by the press, and a second inquiry to review the general culture and ethics of the British media.

Leaving aside some concerns about the impact of state media regulation on the free press that such public inquiries may have, one needs to observe that the governments of the above countries (and others) may in fact consider themselves the guardians of the old journalistic maxim: Get it first. But, first, get it right.

Doctoring stories or assembling video or audio tapes in order to present to the public a journalistic piece designed to deceive, spread hatred, half-truths, untruths, or political gain doesn’t in my opinion fall far from phone hacking found within the Murdoch media.

Croatian TV HRT had in its main news in November 2011, during the days of the 2oth Anniversary of the tragic and horrible fall of Vukovar and General Elections campaigns released a story on the 1991 Fall of Vukovar.

The audio part to the story was, the news anchor/editor Zoran Sprajc said, a taped telephone conversation from 1991 between the late President Dr. Franjo Tudjman and Vukovar’s Croatian commander Mile Dedakovic Jasterb.

In the televised conversation, Tudjman refuses Dedakovic’s requests to withdraw civilians and children from Vukovar, giving the Croatian public “evidence” that Tudjman sacrificed Vukovar in order to show the world how brutal the Serbs were, or to speed up international recognition of Croatian independence.

Of course, a public outcry of disenchantment and anger at Tudjman (and his HDZ party running in November 2011 elections for another term in government) followed.

The conservative politicians (HDZ) protested against the televised story and sought the suspension of Zoran Sprajc as anchor/editor of the TV news program. HRT did just that, quickly.

The Programming Council of HRT had assessed the televised conversation story as inclinatory, malicious, and assembled elsewhere. It reiterated that TV was a public media and must present the truth and do so objectively.

The destiny of suspension from duties that Sprajc experienced is nothing out of the ordinary – suspension from duties while serious complaints inquiries are carried out is a normal practice in the just world. Not in all Croatia it seems?

Some public rallies in support of Sprajc appeared on the streets. The Croatian journalists’ association criticized the suspension, and human rights watchdog Documenta expressed “deep concern with the persecution of journalists because of their broadcasting of the truth.” Former president Stjepan Mesic (left wing politics) also stepped in, criticising the measures demanded by the conservatives (HDZ etc).

Vukovar November 1991

Come January 2012, and in relation to the said TV news story, sources reveal that:

(a) Dedakovic was not in Vukovar at the time of the dramatised “desperate call to Tudjman for help” as HRT piece claimed;

(b) the HRT piece was assembled from parts of several phone conversations some of which were made by Tudjman (HRT claimed Dedakovic phoned Tudjman);

(c) HRT piece showed that Tudjman absolutely rejected to evacuate children from Vukovar but omitted to broadcast the fact that the Serbs and Serb led Yugoslav Army did not allow evacuation of civilians including children without Vukovar capitulating first!

So far, there has been no public statement from the Croatian journalists association, from the Documenta human rights watchdog, from former or current presidents of Croatia nor from the current government regarding the latest revelation that points to gross and malicious deception of the Croatian public through story doctoring and assembling of audio tapes in order to serve the public with lies that wound deeply the very soul of Croatian Homeland War.

Certainly, there hasn’t been even an inkling of a suggestion in Croatian media that the government may set up inquiries into journalistic practices. It would seem that all the protestors against Sprajc’s suspension are happy to sweep the truth under the carpet and together with the government allow the unsavory, unethical, politically corrupt journalistic practices to thrive?

No one it seems has asked: where and how else in the Croatian media is the public being deceived and why?

Had a look on the Croatia’s parliament website and there are a number of sessions to be held this month. Perhaps some member of parliament, if not the government’s president, will stand up during one of these meetings and demand an independent government funded inquiry into journalistic practices in Croatia. Ina Vukic, Prof.(Zgb), B.A., M.A.Ps.(Syd)