Šešelj "will destabilize traitorous regime" (Tanjug/B92)
BELGRADE -- SRS deputy leader Nemanja Šarović says Vojislav Šešelj's return to Serbia "will not cause chaos, but will only destabilize the traitorous regime."
He pointed out that he spoke with Šešelj on the phone on Monday morning, when Šešelj told him he did not know when he would return to Serbia.
"The stories that Šešelj will cause destabilization or chaos are not true. The only thing he will destabilize is the traitorous regime in Serbia. We continue to check every flight from The Hague, but we will know everything half an hour before he boards the plane, and will inform the public," said Šarović,
He said that Šešelj - who suffers from cancer and has been granted provisional release after more than 11 years in detention on war crimes charges, and while his trial is still ongoing - "sounds completely normal, calm and composed," adding that his return should not "cause euphoria."
Asked whether Šešelj said what his priorities will in the coming period - to return to political life or undergo medical treatment, Šarović replied that the SRS leader "never left political life and has always closely followed the political scene of Serbia."
"What will be its first steps - no one knows that except him and I guess we will hear about it during a gathering scheduled for November 15," Šarović noted.
The party will organize a rally in Belgrade on that day under the slogan, "Let's welcome the winner," and expects a large turnout, "not only from Serbia but from Montenegro and the Serb Republic."
"The SRS will not let anything bad happen at the rally but we have information that the regime wants to use any possible way to create an incident and cast a shadow on the arrival of Vojislav Šešelj," said Šarović.
He stressed that the party was determined to avoid this and for that reason demanded an urgent meeting with the chiefs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and will also hire private security.
"If the state wants the gathering to pass quietly, it can make it happen, just as was the case during the Pride Parade, but we do not expect to be protected as they protected those citizens, we expect the police to work professionally," said Šarović.
According to him, there have been hints it will be prohibited to make video footage of the arrival of Šešelj at the Belgrade airport, and that news crews who were there on Friday, thinking the SRS leader would arrive then, "already complained about this."
There is no legal nor constitutional framework for such a decision, Šarović said, and added that the Radicals intend to have a cameraman at the airport in order to "magnificently welcome" their leader.