The show was broadcast on June 16, 2002, and in addition to Praljko, the guests of Aleksandar Stanković were journalist Gordan Malić and journalist “Slobodna Bosna” Senad Avdić.
Source: Youtube/HRT Sundays at 2/Vittorio Vida
29 years ago, members of the HVO destroyed the Old Bridge in Mostar with continuous shelling. For all the people of Mostar, before and after the war, the Old Bridge was not only a building that was easier to cross, but also a meeting place, and the tourist pearl of Herzegovina, but also of the entire country. The video of the demolition of the symbol of Mostar later went around the world. Seven years later, the Old Bridge was reconstructed, and a year later, it was included in the UNESCO list of protected world cultural heritage. The old bridge was built in the period from 1557 to 1566, and the main architect was the architect Hajrudin. To demolish the bridge Slobodan Praljak is considered responsiblea former general of the HVO who drank poison in the Hague courtroom in 2017 and thus ended his life.
See what the demolition of the bridge in Mostar looked like:
00:30 Demolition of the old bridge Mostar Source: Youtube/Vittorio VIda
Source: Youtube/Vittorio VIda
The storm surrounding Slobodan Praljko did not subside so quickly, and here is what he said about the demolition of the bridge in the show “Nedeljom u 2”, 15 years ago. The show was broadcast on June 16, 2002, and in addition to Praljko, the guests of Aleksandar Stanković were journalist Gordan Malić and journalist “Slobodna Bosna” Senad Avdić. Stanković started the show with a question about the Old Bridge, to which Praljak replied that he could not ask something about a newspaper topic that he did not deal with.
Stanković: Mr. Praljak, did you demolish the Old Bridge in Mostar?FREE PRALJAK: The role of the show is another. If we open the topic like that, it will take a lot of time. Besides, you all know. Everyone, including you Stanković, and Mr. Malić knows, and Senad Avdić knows.Senad Avdić: Let’s say I’m not sure.Aleksandar Stanković: Let’s say I wasn’t there, so I don’t know.FREE PRALJAK: You don’t need to, but you are dealing with that topic. You can’t ask something about a newspaper topic that you didn’t deal with… I was the commander of the HVO of that part, i.e. Mostar, in 1992 and I commanded the attack to liberate Mostar, which today is celebrated under the name “June dawn”. Then, considering that the Old Bridge was already visibly damaged and that there was a danger that the Serbs would demolish it, as a cultural value that does not belong to either of the two nations in its entirety, but also belongs to the world heritage, I had it “armored” with boards called “carriages”. They are actually “planks”, 7 cm thick… Two of my guys died doing it. The first question is:: why would the general, who then tried so hard to protect himself, at the cost of losing his men, protect the bridge, demolish it in one moment, already when he was leaving? Second question which you could ask: did you count the number of shells that fell on that bridge when it collapsed? You might wonder why two cameras were set up and recording the entire event.FREE PRALJAK: A true journalistic search would be to find out who installed the cameras, whose cameras they are, where did the videos go, why did the demolition of the Old Bridge take so many hours? So you would ask the engineers if the bridge, which was already badly damaged, could collapse with a maximum of two tank shells in the middle one morning on the first sunny day, so that it would not be possible to find out who it was afterwards. If you answered all these questions, then you would know what Mr. Malić already knows and what most of the people who dealt with the problem know, that I have nothing to do with the demolition of the Old Bridge.Gordan Malić: We found that the tank of the 5th Vinkovac Brigade shelled the Stari Most. Even assuming that the presence of the HV in Mostar is justified by some patriotic volunteer reasons, it is hard to imagine that a volunteer, in addition to the necessary equipment, when crossing the border, also took a tank just in case. But I cannot possibly sleep over the motive for which Muslim Bosniaks would start a war. You claim that this is because in 1992 they were in a kind of national catharsis that collectively gathered them around the common idea that they are a fundamental people.Senad Avdić: Which forced them to commit collective suicide.Gordan Malić: That’s right. Mind you, in 1992 they are in a pretty unenviable military situation. They were practically slaughtered in Podrinje. They are losing on almost all fronts to the Serbs and are trying to hang on where they can. What is the rational, military, political or philosophical-religious reason why they would start a war with another nation and another country at that moment?FREE PRALJAK: Precisely because at the end of 1992, in such a difficult situation when the army and the mental and political structure began to fall apart, they had to have a victory and turned against the Croats.Gordan Malić: It’s completely irrational and you treat a war completely…FREE PRALJAK: No, I don’t treat him irrationally. Wars are the beginning of irrational thinking when rationality has come to an end.
Watch a video of the entire show below:
Sundays at 2 a.m. Source: Youtube/HRT Sundays at 2 a.m
BONUS VIDEO:
00:23 Crowd on the Panceva bridge Source: MONDO
Source: MONDO
(WORLD)