Mr. Antic
I think Martin Suter of Kitchener, Ontario has a right idea. I have only
recently
discovered that Canada, France and Germany do have crime legislation to
deal with inciting hate, spreading defamation etc. against particular
ethnic
and/or religious group - something that US does not. Serbian diaspora
should take advantage of such democratic procedures available to them to
fight for it's nation's dignity.
Margolis and the Sun are particularly well positioned for a law suit of
this
kind. This case would have legal merits based not only on this latest
article
but on the whole archives of similar articles authored by Margolis and
published by Ottawa Sun. Those writings are clearly DOCUMENING the
whole history of sustained Serb-hate campaign in the last several years.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that to even start thinking about this, Serbian diaspora
must
do a thorough research, prior to making any noises about the law-suit.
It must
obtain all of the articles now presumably in Sun's archives. It must
read and
underline the offensive parts carefully - and perhaps approach the same
attorney who was defending the Jewish group. I would really love to see
the
day when Ottawa Sun receives subpoena to turn over to the court, their
copies of all those articles. Likewise, even more thorough research
would
need to be done to uncover and retrieve all the documentation from
independent sources (UN resolutions and Assembly meetings minutes,
foreign and local newspaper articles (preferably not Serbian) - that are
clearing the Serbs from false accusations otherwise published in the
Sun's
columns which it never bothered retracting. This part of research is the
most
important since it, not what the plaintiffs (the Serbian diaspora SAYS)
constitutes - THE EVIDENCE!
I have an access to a Serbian lady in California who in fact succeeded
in
getting the Hague tribunal to convict several Croats and Bosnian Muslims
for
the RAPE OF SERBIAN WOMEN! This was published in the NYTimes, but of
course not as the headlines, so the people in Canada probably missed it.
I
can obtain all the documentation from her on this subject - should this
be also
a part of evidence against Margolis'/Sun's writings, eg. if the
paragraph is
found where Margolis claims that Serbs are rapists.
Make no mistake, it is a huge and lengthy undertaking. It will require
commitment, patience and persistence, things that never fail to produce
results for the Jewish and other groups unfairly treated by the media or
individuals. But, it would be every bit worth while. However, like
everything
with my fellow Serbs, I fear that unless a group of volunteers approach
this
law-suit, particularly the part of gathering evidence, in an organized
and
thorough manner and unless they divide and assign to each individual
precisely who is doing/concentrating on what - the whole thing will
fizzle out
before it started. I live in Houston, but am willing to participate in
this
endeavor. I will consult with the Serbian lady in California re: how to
organize
the whole thing, and I am also willing to participate in researching and
gathering the evidence. I also believe that there are great number of
Serbian
friends who would gladly help in gathering evidence too. Good
organization
is a key to speed and success for this project!
Sonja Myers
Houston, Texas
On 18 Jul 2001, at 10:07, Miroslav Antic wrote:
> Dear Friends,
> Martin Suter from Kitchener, Ontario sent
> me the following message in regards to the Sun's
> infamous Serbophobe 'journalist' Eric Margolis and the latter's latest
> column in particular. It seems a worthwhile project in my estimate and
> I would appreciate feedback and suggestions.
> Thanks,
> -------------------------------------
>
> About this particular Margolis column. I'm wondering
> if somebody in the Serb community might be willing to
> lay charges against Margolis and the Sun newspapers
> for running this piece. It would make for an
> interesting case. In Canada, we have hate crimes
> legislation on the books where it makes it an offence
> to publish stories that are intended to provoke discrimination,hatred
> or ridicule to visible groups or communities. There is another
> provision under the hate crimes act too, that makes it an offence to
> "spread false news". This was successfully used a few years ago by
> some Jewish groups to convict Ernst Zundell, a neo Nazi leader and
> holocaust deniar. He published a book, denying the holocaust, entitled
> "Did Six Million Really Die". He was prosecuted by a private citizen
> for "spreading false news" and ended up doing jail time and being
> deported from Canada. Unlike the U.S, even if the police decline to
> press charges, a private citizen can start criminal proceedings on
> their own. I'd sorely love to see some Serb-Canadians go after
> Margolis and the Sun papers for their lies and if there was ever a
> case of spreading false news" Margolis' comments about the "bodies in
> the mine shaft" in Kosovo and Srebrenica and Dubrovnik certainly fit
> the bill. Could you also forward it to any Serb contacts that you may
> have in Canada? The Sun really needs to be taken to task for printing
> this kind of garbage. mart
>
> Mart ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Serbian News Network - SNN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.antic.org/
