In two articles, Večernje novosti revealed claims, which were originally published on an anonymous online media outlet. The claims talk about “the staged Markale Market in Sarajevo massacre”, “Srebrenica as a fraud” and about Trnopolje camps as a “farce of the international community.” Although such claims were published on an anonymous media outlet, Večernje novosti, however, presented them as a “report by the Swiss intelligence service” that “refutes the truth”.
Our partner fact-checking website from Serbia published an analysis of the text published in Večernje novosti on December 24. The analysis states:
The theory that attacks on civilians at the Markale Market in 1994 and 1995 in Sarajevo were carried out by Bosniaks has its followers for 25 years. This is the theory that Večernje novosti has been proving for the last two days using the alleged leaked documents from the Swiss intelligence agency.
On December 23, Večernje novosti has published an article on the alleged material from the “Swiss federal intelligence agency” which, according to the newspaper claims, disputes “official versions of the circumstances under which the war in the former Yugoslavia took place”:
Al-Qaeda was created to destroy Russians and Serbs, frauds in Markale and Syria completely identical: New report by the Swiss intelligence on the 1990s
The WAR in Yugoslavia in the 1990s aimed at establishing a new balance of power in Southeast Europe after the Cold War. For this purpose, the US used the same militia, that is, its paramilitary forces, with the help of which they had previously fought in Afghanistan, with the Soviet Union, and which would later bear the name of the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda. Other terrorist organizations of militant Muslims, such as the Islamic State, have later developed on the same basis. This is recently revealed in the material acquired from the Swiss federal intelligence service. It is known that the political and media propaganda, used as a framework for the planned separation of Yugoslavia, has been well researched.
(…) The material to which Wimmer points out is a list of propaganda examples, used by the media to create the framework for the war in Yugoslavia and which have deeply influenced public opinion on the substance and character of the conflict. “Serbian death camp Trnopolje” (1992) is one of the most famous examples.
(…) As for Srebrenica, even Philip Corwin, the highest UN civil representative in Bosnia during the war, later opposed to the official version of events. The US political scientist Edward Herman and a former CIA officer Robert Berr, who at the time “held” Yugoslavian territory, spoke of Srebrenica as a hoax, Wimmer recalls.
This article was published on an online media outlets such as Radio televizija Vojvodine, Nezavisne novine, Dnevni Avaz, B92, Kurir, Informer, and others.
The second article was published on December 24, entitled “The truth about Markale is coming out: A report by the Swiss Intelligence confirms that many events during the SFRY war were staged”. It calls upon the same “material of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Agency”, claiming more or less the same, with a focus on the massacre at the Markale Market in Sarajevo and the Trnopolje camp:
The TRUTH about the staged massacres at the Markale Market in Sarajevo in 1994 and 1995, during the war in B&H, is gradually unfolding and refuting the Western media propaganda designed to satanize Serbs and pursue the goals of the powerful Western states. This is supported by a report issued by the Swiss Intelligence Service, published on Monday in Novosti, stating that the United Nations officer has concluded that the massacre at the market was committed by the forces of the B&H Army. In war strategy, such action is known as a “false flag attack”.
(…) The Swiss Intelligence REPORT claims that Western propaganda had used the Trnopolje camp near Prijedor for a media war against Serbs. Former President of the RS Association of Camp prisoners Branislav Dukić, says for Novosti that Boniaks sent a picture of 25,000 Muslim prisoners to the world in 1992, while the real truth is that there were about 670 people at the camp.
According to Večernje novosti, this “data” was published by a “Swiss online media outlet” Swiss Propaganda Research, which referred to a “secret report by the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service (FIS).”
But Raskrikavanje has found that the Swiss Propaganda Research did not refer to any source, including the “secret document of the Swiss intelligence agency”:
The text “Propaganda in the War in Yugoslavia” published on this online media outlet does not contain an author and is one in the series of texts that spread conspiracy theories. It outlines more or less everything that Večernje novosti states, presents itself without evidence as Western propaganda, and it practically denies some of the greatest war crimes that Serbs have committed. However, unlike Večernje novosti, this online media outlet does not refer to any source, not even the “secret document of the Swiss intelligence agency” – writes Raskrikavanje.rs.
Colleagues from Serbia contacted the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service (FIS), who told Raskrikavanje that they “they have nothing to do with the allegations made by either the Swiss portal or Večernje Novosti.
“The FIS report mentioned in the text (Večernje novosti, prim.aut) does not exist and therefore constitutes fake news. We deny that the content of these texts is based on any intelligence report and distance ourselves from it,” states the Swiss intelligence agency. They also added that the Swiss Propaganda Research is known “for suspicious reporting.”
Raskrikavanje.rs also contacted the Swiss Propaganda Research media outlet, whose article was presented in Večernje novosti as “a material of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Agency”.
Based on Raskrikavanje’s inquiry, the editorial board of this online media outlet stated that they “deny that they claimed anything, but only shared” while Večernje novosti did not respond to the same inquiry.
“Swiss Propaganda Research is an independent media research group that has nothing to do with intelligence agencies. The text merely represents someone else’s views, such as UN officials and other researches. Any other claim is a lie”, the online media outlet stated. The same media outlet, which does not have an Impressum, did not answer the question of who wrote the text and how can they prove that all of the mentioned events are just “propaganda”. The content of their other texts, however, indicates that this is a portal that spreads conspiracy theories without evidence, and some of their favourite topics include the clash of intelligence services, power centres, and the media, as well as censorship and media propaganda in reporting on geopolitics. When asked why they wrote that the source of this “information” was the Swiss intelligence, Večernje novosti did not respond.
At the end of the analysis, Raskrikavanje.rs lists facts that do not support theories and claims published on the anonymous online media outlets, which have been shared and presented as “Swiss intelligence material” by the media in the region:
The Hague Verdicts
“For the shelling of Sarajevo, including the attack on the Markale Market in Sarajevo, the former president of Republika Srpska Radovan Karadžić and commander of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Republika Srpska Army Stanislav Galić were sentenced to life imprisonment in The Hague. Ratko Mladić, VRS Commander, was convicted to life imprisonment as well. In the two shelling of Markale in 1994 and 1995, over 100 civilians were killed and more than 200 wounded, while the Serbian side constantly “defended” itself by saying that the attacks were done by the Army of B&H in order to provoke NATO bombing of Republika Srpska, which followed afterwards. Večernje novosti is very nationalist oriented and this is not their first time to deny the war crimes that Serbs have committed. Among other things, as Raskrikavanje wrote, they allowed Božidar Zečević to criticize a movie about crimes against Albanian civilians, which actually boiled down to the denial of crimes and the existence of mass graves in the territory of Serbia, although there is plenty of evidence for that.”
Since there are no “materials of the Swiss intelligence agency” referenced by Večernje novosti, we rate both articles of this online media outlet as fake news. Almost 30 portals who shared any of the articles from Večernje novosti, receive the rate for redistribution of fake news.
Also, all online media outlets, including Večernje Novosti, receive a rate of conspiracy theories, given the fact that they presented unfounded theories, acquired from an anonymous portal, as facts.
