Nachricht Nummer : 312 Übertragungszeit : 3 min 51 sec Nachricht von : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.comlink.de (Wam) Betrifft : Zagreb Diary 24 November, 1993 Kopienempfänger : /APC/YUGO/ANTIWAR, /CL/EUROPA/BALKAN Erstellungsdatum : 06.12.1993 12:16:00 W+1 Realname: Wam Kat Intro: Sorry that you have been waiting for the diary for such a long time, but the screen and other things from my laptop were broken and for a while I had to work in the dark as it were (no screen), which wasn't that handy for writing and reading texts. Anyway Ognjen, our computer wonder doctor was able to return him to me working and looking nearly new. He told me that next time I should buy or get a laptop coated with three fingers thick steal and for heavy duty. He also removed from in the inside a little piece of scrap metal and so the extra sound what my little companion made since that night in Mostar is gone, it was probably a small part of a bullet of automatic riffle, since I can remember that Goran shouted to go in hiding, the next thing was a big punch on my bag out of nothing. Zagreb Diary 24 November, 1993 Dobar dan, "Have you been at the party of the Jordan battalion when they went home from Sector West", he asked me, "No", I reply. And than he start to tell the story. "Most of that parties are rather boozing, not much fun, but enough to drink, a little official with some national folklore and that is it. But this one was rather special you have to know. On a certain moment one of the soldiers came on stage with a living rabbit and before anybody knew what was going on he cracked the neck of the animal and started to take of the skin with his bare tooth's. When he finished that he took he opened he mouth as far as possible and started to eat to rabbit, raw. It happened in about 5 minutes, I can tell something like that I had never seen before" He is an UNPROFOR officer who works as press officer on the UNPROFOR HQ here in Zagreb, he is also the love one of one of the ARKzin journalists and that's why ARK suddenly get the UNPROFOR pressreleases. He is also a little drunk already, since he tries to pour wine in his glass from a bottle from which the cork is not yet removed and looks a the bottle for a while, wondering why nothing comes out. The place is a living room of an apartment rented for a few days by a Dutch delegation from "Press Now", a kind of support group from journalists and media people in the Netherlands in order to collect material and aid for the independent media in this countries. They asked Vesna J. to come on the farewell dinner and I was also invited. After two days of formal meetings with all kind of official representative telling them the stories about how horrible it is with the freedom of press in Croatia and the impossibility to produce independent newspaper or radio without help from abroad they are a little looking for some other talks. And when I look around in the room I see that the only journalists which came are journalists from ARKzin, the Dutch people I also know more or less, at least I know from which alternative scene they are coming so we are a bit among us. The UNPROFOR guy is maybe the only one which is having a little other background, but he is surely not out of space. We are watching Croatian television on which the sabor (the Croatian parliament) is putting up a very boring show, however they are discussing a law which can change the total vision on freedom of press. It is this famous law in which each (main) editor, who writes something which can hurt the state or his authorities can be punished. Who or what has to decided what "hurting the state" means is not yet clear, after two hours watching most of the people in the room have given up, the sabor anyway wouldn't come to a conclusion tonight. The Dutch are surprised about the low level of discussion on this level of the state, they get it nearly word for word translated from a Croatian women who live already some years in the Netherlands. The level of discussion is indeed not like what you learn from the discussion on the forum in Athens, so thousands years ago, but they at least listen to each other (or rather don't interrupt eachother) without shouting like in the UK and some other countries. The contents however is bad. People getting accused of being feminists or lesbian, which seems to be the highest "crime" somebody can commit if we have to believe the director from the state television (Vrdoljak) during his speech, beside that he is by the way vice-president of HDZ (the majority party), president of the Croatian Olympic committee and some other small things on the side line (in the Netherlands this would lead to one scandal after another, the Dutch say, although I think our prime minister has also some double functions). After we have turned of the screen we decided to eat at the "golden shell", for ones Vesna and I choose the expensive meals, since our guests will pay, and lucky for the UNPROFOR guy the wine comes in open bottles. When we went back to the house of were the Dutch are staying we have another discussion, I talk a lot with the Croatian women, who can't understand that I am so mild about the destruction's which happened last year and the year before in Dubrovnik. I explain her that I have seen so much destruction in the last 20 months and that therefor I have another feeling than when I came here. Things are so relative around here I try to explain her. What was horrible is now normal, the first house with a bullet hole makes you siffering, the first completely destroyed house has the same effect, but after seeing whole cities in ashes, Dubrovnik, at least the old part, is practically undamaged. The situation with changing money in Zagreb get's a little bit more normal, nevertheless there are still standing crowds of people in front of the exchange office, but at least it is possible again to change. In the main time however the DEM lost about 10% of his value over the last three weeks. The prices however stay the same. Bok I Mir from Zagreb, Wam ------------------------------------------------------ Zagreb Diary can be found on a lot of different electronic networks, it is copyright free and can be ported to any network or other means of communication you like, but please drop my a line, you can reach by sending a message to wam@zamir-zg.comlink.de or wam@zamir-zg.comlink.apc.org. Zagreb Diary is dedicated to Tyche, Pjort and Rik, so that they found out what there father have been doing all that time in Zagreb. Financial support for Grassroot relief work in Croatia or BiH can be send to Kollektief Rampenplan (atn. Lylette, Postbox 780, 6130 AN Sittard, Netherlands, tel:. +31-46-524803 and fax: +31-46-516460 or to Zagrebacka Banka, Zagreb, accountnr.: 2440291594, to Kat, Pieter Jan Herman Fredrik, Brace Domany 6 6fl nr3, 41000 Zagreb. Please notify me if you send or have send any donations. ## CrossPoint v2.92 ##