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to Karadžić’s intention to name in the courtroom the Western actors
with whom he had been negotiating. Indeed, he spent almost a year
trying to base his defense on the fact that he had an agreement with
Richard Holbroke, the u.s. special envoy, to be amnestied from any
icty indictment.
As most significant for shaping young people’s minds, textbooks
are used as a major instrument for interpreting historical events and
developments, particularly those related to the recent past. According
to Dubravka Stojanović, a historian, the need to redefine the
whole past—the wars of the 1990s, Socialist Yugoslavia, World War II,
the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the emergence of Yugoslavia, World War
I, “the golden age” of Serbian democracy in 1903–1914, the nineteenth
century, the Turkish domination, the state of the Nemanjići—indicates
that “playing with history” and “non-resolution of any salient
issue” poses a great threat to a society, which has been stripped of all
directions. Such a stance “leaves room for the imposition of an ideology
which is at the same time both far right—and far left-wing, and
which is in all respects contrary to things and values on which the
successful part of the contemporary world rests.” 514
A COLLECTIVE DENIAL OF GENOCIDE
In June 2005, during Milošević’s trial, the prosecution screened a
documentary on the killing of six Muslim youngsters. Broadcast not
only throughout the world but also by the Serbian media, it caused a
short-lived but veritable shock and was the first attempt to face the
reality of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. The film explores ties between
the mup and the Srebrenica massacre, as well as the spc’s support of
the Scorpio unit, which committed the genocide. The video shows
Father Gavrilo, head of Privina Glava Monastery, blessing members
of the unit on the eve of their action by uttering the following words:
“Brothers, Turks have raised their ugly heads once again. They are
514 Dubravka Stojanović, Defeated Future, Helsinki Charter, issue May-June 2005