Greek Journalist sued for writing about the Greek paramilitaries in Bosnia
On the 27/07/09 the representive of the Greek organization Panhellenic Macedonian Front Stavros Vitalis filed a libel suit against the journalist Takis Michas because the latter in an recent article published in the Greek daily “Eleftherotypia” had referred to the Greek volunteers that fought on the side of the Serbs during the war in Bosnia as “paramilitaries that took part in the slaughter in Srbrenica”. In statement distributed to the media Mr.Vitalis claimed that the Greek volunteers who fought in Bosnia under the command of General Mladic were there in order
“to help a people (i.e. the Serbs) who were being slaughtered by international gangs who were also stealing their houses, their country and their dignity”.
“I was the person” Mr Vitalis’ statement continued “who helped with the creation and formation of the Greek Volunteers. It was me who reached an agreement with the General Military Command of Republica Srpska according to which all the Greek Volunteers were integrated into the forces of the regular army which had as its base the Romania Corps. At the same time the Serb commanders had an explicit order –which they obeyed to the letter-not to allow the Greek volunteers to participate in attacking operations. In the case of the reoccupation of Srbrenica by the Serbs I was present together with a group of higher Serb officers in all the operations that took place. None of the Greek volunteers participated in the battles inside or outside the city”.
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“The whole of Greece knows that the Greek volunteers had the wide support of Greek society in its totality as well as the support of politicians mainly from PASOK given the warm friendship between Andreas Papandreou and Radovan Karadzic.(They had also the support)of New Democracy which was due to the friendly diplomatic initiatives of Constantine Mitsotakis”
The prosecution has called as witnesses leading former PASOK and ND politicians
3 comments from Takis Michas
a) Advocacy groups like the Panhellenic Macedonian Front (which Mr.Vitalis reprents) that today lobby for the Greek position on the issue of Macedonia, support also the Serb wartime activities during the wars in former Yugoslavia.
b) Mr.Vitalis explicitly admits that Greeks (i.e. himself) took part in the planning and execution of the “reoccupation”(as he calls it )of Srbrenica.
c) Mr Vitalis admits that the recruitment of Greeks volunteers for the war against the legitimate government of Bosnia took place with the implicit approval of the leading Greek politicians Andreas Papandreou and (to a lesser extent) Constantine Mitsotakis.
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