URGENT REQUEST: Ivo, Please Read

[Ivo Skoric]

http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=9186
Well, he is free now. This guys from Sunday Mirror screwed three 
young smart locals up with their irresponsible sensationalism. The 
government is pissed. IFEX is right to protest: what kind of stupid 
charge is that "defamation of Montenegro" - SInisa couldn't possibly 
want to have an article in which he is depicted as a leading 
Montenegro's pimp published in a British tabloid. The defense should 
be able to get them off. Montenegro should demand accountability from 
Sunday Mirror, though. Because if court did not find Sinisa guilty of 
the crimes described in Sunday Mirror, then SM is guilty of 
defamation, slander, libel. Chilling thought of course may be that 
the story is true and the defamation charges are just a part of the 
government cover-up. 
http://www.infowars.com/print/misc/un_child_slaves.htm
http://www.antenam.net/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=23996
picture of sinisa nadazdin:
http://home.no.net/kkahrs/main.html
ivo


On 15 Feb 2004 at 23:34, Kendra Holtzman wrote:

Dear Ivo,

I pray that you might provide some immediate advice for my friend,
Sinisa Nadazdin, who has been falsely accused of human trafficking in
Montenegro.  Perhaps you have read something of his story in the last
two weeks?  I met Sinisa in August, 2002, while conducting my
dissertation research in Croatia.  He was a participant in the
"Renewing Our Minds" conference, where young people from the former
Yugoslavia are brought together for intensive reconciliation work.  
He
is an amazing young man who could not possibly be guilty of the
charges against him.

I am terribly frightened for his safety.  Please read his letter
below, written on 2/13/04.  Do you know of anyone who could help with
either legal advice or political process?  Could anyone on the
JUSTWATCH-L list help?  I know from reading your posts on JUSTWATCH
and CERJ that you have deep convictions on matters such as this.

My deepest thanks for your help, Ivo,

Kendra

Dear friends

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  I hope 
you
are all well and that God is blessing you and leading you in your
lives!

It has been a while since I have addressed you. I could say many
excuses, but non of them seems good enough.  The truth is that people
usually remember their friends at the bad moments, in crises and when
they need help.

The truth is that I truly need help in next couple of months. What I
am going through in last two weeks is still very hard for me to
believe that is really happening.  But let me go from beginning ...

I don't know how well you remember me from ROM 2002.  Those that I
have spent more time with know that I was working occasionally with
foreign journalists who were coming to Montenegro.  I was working for
them as a fixer -- a person who arranges contacts, interviews,
interpreting, guiding and doing all the necessary logistics.

That is something that I was doing in January this year. I was 
working
with British journalist Dominic Hipkins (who was working for the
Sunday Mirror, a British tabloid), doing a story on a children
trafficking in Montenegro.  As you may see this is very sensitive
topic that already caused a big affair in Montenegro, because
allegedly some of the high Government officials were involved in sex
trafficking a year and a half ago.

During a period from 7-9th of January, Hipkins and I were trying to
get some information about these activities.  Together with us, there
was another guy doing the same thing like me, by the name of Jovo
Martinovic.

In this period I was giving my best to find some true information
about this subject, arranging two interviews.  One of them was about
ways of trafficking, and another was with a lady whose granddaughter
was allegedly kidnapped and transported to Italy.

Besides this work, I myself gave interview to Hipkins about the
position and living conditions of the Roma community in Podgorica and
Montenegro.  The reason I gave an interview to him was that my NGO
"Philia" had some projects within Roma community in the previous 
year.
 Those projects consisted of humanitarian aid relief, supporting a
single mother with seven children, supporting some other families,
plus the distribution of Shoeboxes to the Roma and other 
disadvantaged
families.

The largest project we had was a kindergarten we organized from
February to July 2003.  35 children attended that kindergarten from
Roma, Albanian, Bosniak/Moslem and Orthodox families.

During the few days I worked with Hipkins, I noticed that he was 
ready
to do anything to "get his story done", including lying and inventing
different things.  Nevertheless, in my wildest dreams I couldn't
imagine what he is capable of.

On Sunday 25th of January this article was published in the Sunday
Mirror, in which I was accused of being the biggest child trafficker
in Montenegro, who uses his NGO just as a cover up for selling
children and arranging illegal adoptions.  I was also accused of
working closely with mafia bosses and organized crime generally.

It is unnecesssary to say that when I read the article, I was shocked
and I almost fainted away.  The accusations were so horrible that it
seemed like a nightmare. 

This news echoed in the local newspapers on Tuesday, the 27th of
January, and since then I gave several interviews, including to
including Radio Free Europe and national TV.  But unfortunately this
went much further than Montenegro.  It was shown by VOA on Serbian,
RAI UNO, Canadian TV, etc.  I have received many phone calls from
Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Norway, England, etc.

All these accusations made me extremely interesting to police and
State Security Service.  I spent many hours in police answering many
different questions.  I was detained for 24 hours in police (28/29th
of January).  Everything went well, the investigation showed my
innocence and I was hoping that things will settle down. 

Unfortunately, it turned out that I was celebrating too fast.

On Tuesday 3rd of February, I was called to come to police station
once again.  They told me on the phone that "we need to clarify few
more things".  When I came there it showed that they don't want to
talk, but that their intention was to arrest me.  The accusation was
that in the process of writting the story we made "defamation of the
Republic of Montenegro".

First of all I couldn't believe what they are saying.  I thought it
was another police trick they are using during interrogation when 
they
want to find out something new.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.  I was
arrested and taken into custody.

But while doing this they didn't tell me that they are arresting me. 
They said that they will let me go in the evening, "tommorow morning
latest" and that what I have said to my parents.  Again unfortunately
that was not truth.

They locked me up in a cell where I was freezing for the next 24
hours.  I had two stinky blankets and a bed that I needed to share
with two other guys that night.  There was no toilet in the cell and
we needed to call guard each time when we wanted to use one. 

After 24 hours instead of taking us to the judge, they took us to a
prison where me, Martinovic, and two of his friends spent almost 48
hours in solitary cells.  In my cell there was no electricity, the
toilet was broken, and there was no window.

Then they took us to the judge and then turned us back to prison for
next 4 days.  Later we found out that 7 days custody was because of
great public and political preasure on the judge. We got out on last
Tuesday.  We thought it is the end but on Thursday the public
prosecutor made a suit against us and now we are expecting a trial at
the beginning of March.

In the meantime, while we were in custody, there was tremendous media
lynch, mainly caused by police press release where they accused us
that we have "betrayed Montenegro deliberately working against it". 
They said many lies about us which was once again hard to believe.  
We
are accused of being "enemies of the state who defamed the image of
Montenegro in the world".

After being defamed by the Sunday Mirror, I faced another defamation,
but this time by police.  To anyone who was following this case from
the beginning it was easy to notice some unlogical things written in
newspapers released by police, but I don't want to go into the
details.

Simply put, the story that we did came in a very bad momment for
political leaders of Montenegro.  Almost at the same time they were 
in
Washington visiting Congress and "presenting national strategy on
fighting against human trafficking".  They wanted to show that they
did good job in the past and that there is no trafficking in
Montenegro (which is very unlikely, actually not a truth) and that
Montenegro doesn't have problem with it.  The accusations against
Government and some politicians conerning trafficking -- they want to
proove that all of that was a lie -- which is not truth once again.

I claim that we are victims of political process, just like those 
that
were going on during Stalin time in Soviet Union and other Communist
regimes.  They want to lock us up for telling the truth, so that they
may look good in front of international community and donors.

I urge to all of you who have contacts in organizations who deal with
human rights, press freedoms, monitoring of trials, etc., to alarm
them about our case.  If you can not do it by yourself I beg you to
give me their contacts.

Also, if you know people in positions where they could make some
positive influence on Montenegrin Government concerning our case,
please give me their contact or to inform them about our case by
yourself.  Any kind of assistance would be extremely helpful to us in
these moments when we feel that the whole system has turned against
us.

Usually, Montenegrin courts are not this quick, and that tells that
they want to do this so quickly that international organizations 
don't
have time to react to what is going on.

For any further information you can contact me on this email or on 
the
phone numbers +381 67 570 003 and +381 67 512 877

May God bless you all! Please pray for us!!!

Sincerely yours

Sinisa Nadazdin
Podgorica, Montenegro

---------------------------------------------------------
Ivo Skoric
19 Baxter Street
Rutland VT 05701
802.775.7257
ivo at balkansnet.org
balkansnet.org