Comments on: Asking war questions with images: Vladimir´s balkan story

By: Kitty

Kitty — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 05:16:58 +0000

David, What an original and captivating way to learn about Vladimir. This was inspired.

By: Vladimir Radomirovic

Vladimir Radomirovic — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 04:00:15 +0000

Crimes were committed by all sides in Bosnia, and Omarska camp is just one example. And it’s true that Western media paid no attention to crimes against Serbs.
The irony is that the site of the camp, an iron mine, is now owned by ArcelorMittal

By: Elaine Diaz

Elaine Diaz — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 02:57:46 +0000

This is really good, David.
I really like the use of the pics.

By: David Jimenez

David Jimenez — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 02:43:07 +0000

Thanks Ali,
I am glad you liked it!
Best

By: David Jimenez

David Jimenez — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 02:42:14 +0000

There is an old debate about the authenticity of that picture. At first, I presented it to Vladimir noticing those doubts. But Vladimir himself, not being a British agent as far as I know, told me that the image is actually accurate, and that the camp, the fence wire and the prisioners were all real, and that Serbian media has confirmed it overtime. In any case, his view is that there were Human Rights abuses committed by all sides, as is usually the case in most wars.
Best
David

By: jj

jj — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 01:36:50 +0000

In cover photo of TIME magazine with the bony man – it was not him behind the fence: it was the ITN film crew & Penny Marshall. The put THEMSELVES behind a dilapidated fence surrounding a tool shed. The fence was mostly chicken wire, with a few sagging strands of barbed-wire on the top. Plus there was a broken section of the fence where the film crew walked in.
There was no necessity to put the old fence between themselves and the men: they could interview them directly, and actually they did meet and interview men in that OPEN refugee center which had several buildings. The film crew was inside one of the buildings interviewing Bosniaks.
There was another film crew from Belgrade with them that day and it shows the ITN putting themselves behind the fence to shoot the men and leave the impression that the men are surrounded by the fence: it was definitely not the case.

Furthermore, that super skinny-looking man had just arrived there that day and was waiting to register for a bed and food.
He had some kind of congenital defect or syndrome – his bones are misshapen and deformed – he was unusual and that is why he was brought forward when Penny Marshall kept pointing out people she thought were skinny (she was looking to film the skinniest to make it look like they were being starved). The men around the skinny man (whose name is Fikret Alic) were of normal weight.

Fikret Alic is alive today and is married and with a family. In the photos there is no evidence of injury: cuts, bruises, abrasions.

This was a propaganda coup by the Brits.

Meanwhile, Serbs in Bosniak (Muslim) camps were the ones with broken bones and signs of torture evident to camp inspectors. https://theremustbejustice.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/bosnia-serbs-were-burned-alive-in-zenica-iron-works-furnaces/

By: Ali

Ali — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:17:52 +0000

David excellent piece, I really liked your approach of eliciting personal responses by using pictures. It really gave me a deeper appreciation of Vladimir’s balkan story.