From: news@cc.swarthmore.edu (USENET News System)
Subject: THE CASE FOR MILAN PANIC
Originator: vuksan@ginger
Organization: Swarthmore College
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 01:46:15 GMT

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The following text has been written by:
Ivo Skoric, 103 St Marks pl, New York, NY 10009, USA
telephone:(212) 995-5601 e-mail: iskoric@igc.apc.org
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THE LESSER OF EVILS: A CASE FOR MILAN PANIC
 
Milan Panic, American citizen of Serbian origin, and former
Yugoslav athlete, owns ICN Pharmaceuticals. ICN bought largest
Serbian pharmaceutical company Galenika. ICN has a monopoly on
penicillyn market in eastern Europe. Later ICN owned Galenika and
ICN itself formed a joint-venture company in the U.S. ICN Galenika
(owned 75% by Galenika). Panic put on the board of directors of ICN
Galenika former U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia, John Scanlan, a
military science expert. John Scanlan was ambassador in Yugoslavia
immediately after Lawrence Eagleburger who is now acting Secretary
of State.
 
Everything worked out perfectly: Galenika provided cheap labor, ICN
provided much needed jobs, eastern Europe got affordable
antibiotics, Panic got cash in the pocket. I don't no anybody who
was complaining about a deal. Also, Panic got the oportunity to
sell ICN drugs in the U.S. without years of waiting for FDA
approval simply by importing them from Serbian Galenika. After a
while Galenika became a main ICN production line.
 
Then came UN sanctions. Without import of supplies necessary for
production, Galenika shut down the production. Panic, who heftily
supported Serbian politicians (in order to get Galenika), was not
very amused with the development. That was not what he paid for.
So, he accepted the adventure of being a prime minister of
Yugoslavia.
 
Only to his great disappointment he realized that the prime
minister of Yugoslavia, although roaming fancy offices and being
chauffered around in limousines, has no real power. Since
Yugoslavia today consists of Serbia and Monte Negro, where Serbia
holds 90% of teritorry, 95% of population and 99% of economy, the
real power holds the president of Serbia, and that is, probably the
most hated and the most loved political figure in former
Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic.
 
So, he decided to run in elections for president of Serbia, against
Milosevic. Then he backed up (being American industrialist he has
a bit of a Ross Perot character). Now, students are collecting
signatures all over Belgrade on petitions begging him to run, and
the U.S. GOP decided to send monitors in Serbia to prevent possible
(probable, considering Milosevic as an opponent) election fraud.
The other candidates are just very loud hot air used by Milosevic
to distract the electorate from the real confrontation that is
between Milosevic and Panic.
 
Funny thing happened to Panic this summer. There was a guy, a young
boy 21 years of age, an American citizen, who fought in Croatian
Army and fell in captivity of Serbian forces. He was moved from one
detention (concentration) camp in Bosnia to another for five
months. Serbian prison guards were little bit more lenient toward
him, expecting Marlboro cigarettes, whiskey, and, certainly,
dollars. His family in the U.S. (New York state residents) were out
of their minds. He lost about 30 pounds while being shifted from
camp to camp. Finally, his family got senator Alfonse D'Amato (who
is heftily supported by conservative Croatian community) to press
for the case of their son in Washington. D'Amato quickly got State
Department's attention in the time when almost every newspaper in
the U.S. featured a photography of drained out prisoners of
Trnopolje camp. Scanlan, who was shutling between his two friends
- Panic in Belgrade and Eagleburger in Washington - since the
beginning of Panic's duty in Belgrade, eventually brought the
message to Panic that HIS government wanted the boy out now. Panic
personally went on trip to Bosnia (on the same occasion an ABC
anchorman was killed), went to the camp where boy was held, talked
to commander and got boy out the same day, took him in his limo to
Belgrade, delivered him to American Embassy there (later he was
driven to Budapest and air-lifted to New York, where he was greeted
by press corps on the airport). Panic told the boy that he was
"naughty." I agree with that, but I hope Panic does not forget that
such naughty boys created and developed his adopted country, the
U.S. in 1776. The point is, however, that Panic can do the job, and
that he is ready to listen to the world community. Other
interesting point is that entire thing happened in Bosnia while
Croatian government claimed it had no troops there, and
Yugoslav/Serbian governments claimed they have no control of what
was going on in Bosnia and over detention camps. Unnecessary lies.
 
Just to be on the safe side, Milosevic decided to avoid the
possibility of Panic running in elections. Early in November
Serbian parliament passed the law requiring all candidates to be
residents of Serbia at least one year before the elections.
Beginning of December Serbian Electoral Commision disqualified
Panic for not meeting that requirement. Panic, who lived in the
U.S. for many years, was back in Serbia in July. Although there is
nothing unusual that country has a residency requirement for
presidential candidates, it is peculiar that the rule is made a
month before elections, and just after rumors that Panic might run.
 
The decision of Electoral Commision could be appealed to a Serbian
Supreme Court and that was exactly what Panic did: just to find out
that the same man heads both the Electoral Commision and the
Supreme Court. There is an old Serbian wisdom from Ottoman times
that perfectly applies to this case: KADIJA TUZI, KADIJA SUDI.
(judge prosecutes, judge indicts).
 
Panic doesn't want to give up: he is Serbian by birth, he is still
a Yugoslav citizen (and a prime minister of Yugoslavia) and his
last Yugoslav residence (before he emmigrated to the U.S.) was in
Serbia. There is also a problem of legal logic involved: if Panic
was able to be elected prime minister of Yugoslavia, how could not
he candidate himself for prime minister of Serbia, that is just a
part of Yugoslavia? That is like if American president wouldn't be
able to run for a governor of his home state. What Milosevic wants
to prove is that Serbia is not Panic's home state. That's a very
offensive lie. Yugoslavia comprises just two states: Serbia and
Monte Negro, and Panic is definitely not a MonteNegrin - neither
by birth, nor by his last place of residence. So, he could only be
Serbian.
 
I am very curious if Captain Dragan would be allowed to run. He
came to Belgrade less than a year ago, too. Earlier he was
technically a resident of Croatia where he lead a rebellion against
Croatian authorities.

Xref: sparky soc.culture.yugoslavia:10070 soc.culture.bulgaria:1895