Inside Serbia: The watchdogs of democracy

Students celebrating Milosevic's overthrow

By Steve Nettleton, CNN.com correspondent in Yugoslavia

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- They have no leaders, members say. They are all merely "activists." Yet they are widely credited with inspiring Yugoslavia's dramatic change of power.

For two years, the student-based political movement "Otpor", Serbian for "resistance", spearheaded a campaign to remove former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic from office and to remove state authority over university appointments.

Through a series of media stunts ridiculing the Yugoslav ruler and his policies, Otpor did what no political party could do -- it suggested to the Serbian people that Milosevic was not invincible.

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"People feel [Otpor is] responsible for Milosevic leaving. They liberated people from fear, through laughter." said Miroslav Hristodulo, a former student activist in the years before Otpor.

"Thanks to them, the idea of resistance spread to every house in Serbia."

Many believe it was the efforts of the students that eventually made possible the storming of Yugoslavia's federal parliament building on October 5, signaling an end to Milosevic's presidency.

Two days after new President Vojislav Kostunica took the reins of power, thousands of Otpor members marched and danced through Belgrade streets.

Their fists in the air, the overwhelmingly young, black-clad activists celebrated their success.

Much of the rest of Belgrade cheered them on, revealing the legitimacy the opposition group had finally achieved in the eyes of the Yugoslav people.

Jovan Ratkovic was one of 20 students from Belgrade University that founded Otpor in the autumn of 1998.

"We came from all different faculties. It was chaotic at first; we didn't have a common strategy. But in the end we just clicked," Ratkovic said.

He and the other members of the fledgling resistance group were angered by a Serbian law that gave government appointees the power to hire or dismiss university faculty lecturers and required professors to sign an oath of loyalty to the state.

When several well-liked professors were fired by Milosevic-allied deans, students responded by rolling chalkboards outside the university and allowing the unemployed teachers to hold impromptu lectures on the grass.

Otpor soon expanded beyond university grounds, leading a "March to Democracy" between Belgrade and the northern city of Novi Sad, temporarily blockading city streets and persuading a few legislators to fly Otpor's flag, a white clinched-fist on a black banner, in Serbia's parliament.

The government quickly cracked down on the movement. More than 1,500 activists were arrested -- many of them more than once -- and frequently held in jail for 10 to 30 days, Ratkovic said.

In September, just days before Yugoslavia's elections, Ratkovic was among several Otpor members removed by Serb police from the Greek ambassador's residence, where they were to meet with Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou.

After the Papandreou protest, Ratkovic and the others were released and later visited the foreign minister in his hotel.

"These actions only encouraged us," Ratkovic said. "Even other repressive regimes wouldn't dare break into an ambassador's residence. It showed that this regime was in chaos. Instead of scaring us, it made us more determined to continue."

During the election campaign, Otpor launched a campaign of its own, essentially urging voters to vote for anyone except Milosevic.

Their slogan, "He's History," quickly caught on with the public and became a rallying cry for the opposition.

Otpor has pledged to be a watchdog on democracy

The movement also worked with a non-governmental, non-partisan effort to encourage young people to vote.

"People couldn't believe that Milosevic would be defeated in an election," Ratkovic said. "They thought, Why bother? We had to explain that with sheer numbers -- if we could get four million people to vote against him -- he couldn't steal enough votes to win the election."

Now, with its goal of removing Milosevic achieved, Otpor is focusing its efforts on getting the Serbian parliament to repeal its university law.

The organisation also plans to remain on the political playing field, serving as a watchdog against repression.

"We will keep an eye on the new government and make sure it doesn't steal money like the last one," said activist Teodora Smiljkovic.

"We want to change the public's state of mind and make people realise that every government is changeable.

"If this government does something wrong, you can replace it in an election."

"We don't want Milosevic to replaced by another Milosevic," said Ratkovic.

"If this government makes the same mistakes as Milosevic, then we will prepare for Resistance Number Two."

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October 5, 2000
Yugoslavia annuls election result
October 4, 2000
In-Depth Specials
Yugoslavia Decides

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