The recently deceased Chetnik duke and commander of the paramilitary formation "Novosarajevo Chetnik Detachment" Slavko Aleksić was a relentless follower radical policies of national and religious intolerance and ethnic separation, which in the young radical days were ardently advocated by the supposedly "reformed" and advanced Aleksandar Vučić.
In political circles Republika Srpska, Aleksić was treated as a hero and a symbol of "Serbian defense Sarajevo", while in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina his policy was described as terror and paramilitary action directed against the civilian population during the siege of Sarajevo.
He was declared a Chetnik duke by the leader of the Radicals Vojislav Seselj in 1993, and then Chetnik duke Momčilo Đujić.
In accordance with the radical obsession with ethnic homogenization, one of Aleksić's most significant moves was also one after the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Aleksic is like that, after signing of the Dayton Agreement, organized a mass exodus of Serbs from Sarajevo settlements, mostly from Grbavica, which is interpreted by the BiH public as a "policy of preventing coexistence and definitive ethnic separation of Sarajevo".
In 2022, Aleksić was sentenced before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to five months in prison for inciting national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance, because three years earlier at a meeting in Visegrad, he "glorified the Chetnik movement through songs and rhetoric and threatened the return of historical conflicts". Aleksić bought that fine for 15.000 convertible marks.
In the public of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he is remembered as a symbol of sniper and military terror against the civilian population.
Dodik about Aleksic
Milorad Dodik he was able to say about Aleksić that he "honorably and responsibly performed his duties in the defense of the people and the homeland on the Sarajevo battlefield."
Upon news of Aleksić's death, Dodik paid tribute to him on social networks.
"Today, Duke Slavko Aleksić, a great patriot, who left an indelible mark in the history of the Serbian people, left us. A man who performed his duty with honor, responsibility and dedication. Slavko Aleksić will be remembered as a very brave and honorable fighter on the Sarajevo-Romania battlefield. In these sad moments, I send my deepest condolences to his family, comrades and friends. May he be eternally honored and thanked for everything he did for his people and homeland," wrote Dodik.
Aleksić was one of the people who renewed the Chetnik movement in Sarajevo. After the murder in front of the Old Orthodox Church in Baščaršija, on March 1, 1992, Aleksić became the commander of the "Novosarajevo Chetnik Detachment", whose headquarters were in Grbavica. He participated in the siege of Sarajevo, and especially on the demarcation line in the area of Grbavica and the Jewish cemetery, where some of the most difficult and bloodiest clashes between the Army of the Republic of Srpska and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina took place.
Vučić's witness
When the affair broke out "Sarajevo Safari", and less than a month before his death, Aleksić passionately denied that Vučić was a volunteer in his unit.
"They accuse Vučić of being a volunteer in my unit, that is absolutely not true. I responsibly claim that there is nothing of the sort, there is not even a drop of truth in it. No snipers, no foreign mercenaries, because they were in my unit Russian, Greeks, Bulgarians, and even some Macedonians, but they are Orthodox volunteers. "But if someone was engaged in sniping, killing, that is unthinkable," Aleksic said.
On that occasion, he pointed out that Vučić had come to Sarajevo as a member of a journalistic team to make a report for TV Srpska "which was not recorded due to the outbreak of hostilities at the time of recording that report".
Aleksić, by his own admission, was ready to confirm his claims about Vučić's innocence in court.
Aleksić announced a lawsuit against those who presented "slander and untruths" about the "Sarajevo Safari", because he claimed that "there are many elements for a lawsuit". He also stated that he had heard that Vučić had announced a lawsuit on that occasion.
"I will be happy to be a witness, to tell you that there is absolutely not a grain of truth in that," Aleksić was categorical.
Vučić's statements about Sarajevo and Muslims
If Vučić does file lawsuits over allegations of his participation in the "Sarajevo Safari", Aleksić, if alive, could indeed be a valuable witness, considering what Vučić has said about Sarajevo and Muslims over the years.
In mid-1994, in an interview for the magazine "Duga" at the time, Vučić confirmed that he was in positions above Sarajevo.
"When the war in Bosnia started, I went to Serbian Sarajevo and signed up as a volunteer. I was not a member of the party, I simply left. I was at the Jewish cemetery for a while," said Vučić.
Aleksandar Vučić's most famous statement regarding Muslims came less than a year after that confession in "Duga".
Only 10 days after the event that he himself, and with him, the majority of Serbian citizens, defines as a "terrible crime" in Srebrenica, Vučić said at the speaker of the Assembly of Serbia:
"Well, you bomb, kill one Serb, we'll kill a hundred Muslims, so let's see if the international community or anyone else is allowed to attack Serbian positions."
For years, Vučić has unsuccessfully defended himself against that statement in several ways, mostly claiming that it was taken out of context and that today he advocates a different policy.
Vučić has repeatedly stated that the sentence was misused because in the continuation of the speech he allegedly spoke about peace or the protection of the people, and not about a direct call for crimes. However, transcripts and recordings show that the statement was a clear threat to the international community to prevent attacks on Serbian positions.
After the formation of the Serbian Progressive Party, Vučić admitted that he "certainly would not say that again" and that at that time "he was young and guided by a different ideology." He also defended himself by claiming that he was not "calling for murder in that way", but that he was trying to send a strong political message of deterring NATO bombing.
On the Telering show in 2006, Vučić boasted that he "knew every part of Sarajevo" and that he had done "everything that came to his mind."
"I know every part of Sarajevo. During the war, I visited every part of Sarajevo where Serbs lived. I know every place, there is not a single one I don't know. Somewhere I know almost every house. I am proud of that. […] Everything that came to my mind that I could and could do for my people, I did and did," said Vučić at the time.
Big holiday discount on "Vreme" - subscriptions 25 percent cheaper until mid-January. Give it away subscription to yourself or to someone else, read what matters.
