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Mayor tells inside story of Belgrade uprising
Police helped guide building takeovers
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Velimir Ilic, the charismatic mayor of the central Serbian city of Cacak, has emerged as a key organizer of the revolt that culminated in Slobodan Milosevic's removal from power.
According to Ilic, the October 5 uprising was thoroughly planned and crucial to its success was the cooperation of some police and military officers. Beginning at dawn that day, some 20,000 people left Ilic's town, Cacak, in cars and trucks, determined to make sure that Milosevic would not prevail in his attempts to circumvent his electoral loss to Vojislav Kostunica. The Cacak contingent's destination was Belgrade and the palaces of power. On each truck, Ilic says, there were 50 people armed with stones, hammers and even some guns. Nothing, Ilic says, could have stopped them -- not police barricades nor weary officers who tried to prevent the opposition supporters from passing. 'Police were fed up with Milosevic'Miles outside Belgrade, police resistance was light and the resolve among Kostunica's supporters was high. As the convoy reached central Belgrade, police stood by and watched. Traffic police were on alert, but the way was clear. Once in Belgrade, the Ilic's contingent was joined by thousands of demonstrators. Before 3 p.m., as many as half a million had swarmed into the capital to support the revolt. But the role of sympathetic police officers was key. "Police were really fed up with Milosevic," Ilic said. "So we needed to get rid of him together, with them." Ilic said the people had support within elite army units. "The will of the people was huge, so the only thing we needed were a few key players who would coordinate everything," he said.
Policemen inside and outside the parliament building were in direct radio contact with the revolt's organizers, Ilic says. 'Try harder! Regroup!'The first attempt to storm the parliament building was rebuffed by a volley of police tear gas. As the crowd retreated, Ilic says, he thought the effort had failed. But his allies within the security services urged him on. "We had to stop people from dispersing after the tear gas, and to bring people back in front of the parliament," he said. "Our people within the police told us: 'It was not strong enough! Try harder! Regroup!'" Ilic says it took several hours to reorganize supporters. But the second time the police allies helped even more. "They were telling us where to attack," Ilic said. "They told us they had no orders to shoot, so we were listening. We had control in our hands." The parliament building fell in a matter of hours. The building was looted, then burned. Ilic says the uprising worked because he could count on the will of the people. "The hatred of the people towards that dictator, and the desire of the people to liberate themselves of Milosevic, had won," he said. "Serbia would have voted for anybody except for Milosevic, and, even this time he tried to steal victory. There was no other way but to attack him." RELATED STORIES: Yugoslavia looks to end isolation RELATED SITES: The Center for Reconstruction and Development | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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