On the importance of institutions

The second part of the interview that Brankica Stanković did with former Đinđić advisor Vladimir Popović has been broadcast on B92, and it is no less controversial than the first half (from which I gave some quotations in an earlier post). In this one he accuses active politicians, especially prime minister Vojislav Koštunica and his party DSS, of involvement in the conspiracy to murder Mr Đinđić. Other politicians are not spared, nor is the Serbian Orthodox Church. It is not surprising that there should be furious responses.

Nor is it surprising that one of the most furious is the press release from DSS. They call Mr Popović a "false witness," and accuse him of "pathological hatred" toward them. Then they indulge in a little rhetorical fancy:

"Aside from the judicial organs which have the obligation to verify the public accusations Popović makes, we consider that there exist in this society specialised institutions which could perhaps, on the basis of what we have seen, give some help to Vladimir Popović."

Let's say it is a given that DSS is angry, justifiably angry if Mr Popović's charges are not true. All the same, considering that earlier this week their justice minister threatened that he could produce criminal charges at will, it might be that threatening to put politically inconvenient individuals in mental institutions will not really help them with their growing reputation for abuse of power.