Mihailovic

A lecture given by two well-known Serbian historians in Zagreb earlier this week has caused controversy in Croatia because it appeared to show sympathy for the Serbian nationalist Chetnik movement in World War II.

Several historians have criticised the Serbian authorities after Chetnik movement leader Dragoslav 'Draza' Mihailovic's picture was displayed alongside that of Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito at a state-sponsored event at the National Theatre in Belgrade on Sunday to commemorate Victory Day in World War II.

Ravna Gora Movement members Dusan Sladojevic, alias Krvce and Cica, Slavko Aleksic, alias Vojvoda, and Risto Lecic pleaded not guilty at the Bosnian state court on Monday to charges of inciting ethnic, racial and religious hatred, discord and intolerance at gatherings in the town of Visegrad and the nearby village of Dobrunska Rijeka in March 2019.

The Bosnian state prosecution said on Thursday that it has filed an indictment charging Dusan Sladojevic, alias Krvce or Cica, Slavko Aleksic, alias Vojvoda, and Risto Lecic with inciting hatred between Bosnia and Herzegovina's main ethnic groups at a rally in Visegrad.

The Basic Courts in Trebinje and Bijeljina told BIRN that they have turned down requests to ban associations whose names contain the words 'Chetnik Movement' or 'Ravna Gora Movement'.

The plea was "rejected as unfounded", said Jelica Ijacic, the secretary at Trebinje Basic Court.

"The overall economic and legitimacy crisis after Tito's death in the 1980s created a favourable atmosphere for criticising the Partisan myth and creating positive images about their [the Partisans'] enemies [the Chetniks]," Djureinovic, who has a PhD in history from Justus Liebig University in Giessen and works with the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre, told BIRN in an interview.

A Belgrade councillor asked the city authorities to name a street after WWII Chetnik general Dragoljub ‘Draza’ Mihailovic, who was executed for treason but recently rehabilitated by a Serbian court.

A Belgrade court rehabilitated Chetnik leader Dragoljub ‘Draza’ Mihailovic, who was executed for high treason and Nazi collaboration in 1946, after hearings that highlighted longstanding divisions in Serbia.