Belgrade: De(con)structing urbanity

These extracts from e-mail messages I received from Belgrade during the days of Slobodan Milosevic’s fall from power (The Age, 2000) capture the atmosphere, the magnificence, the exhilaration and the sadness of early October 2000. Those were the words of my friends who, for long ten years, never gave up hope and never accepted extremism; words from the people who were strong enough to keep their heads up. Throughout 2000 Milosevic was close to defeat. He had survived much unrest, but this time it was clear that the situation had changed. On 5 October 2000, after an unsuccessful effort to manipulate another election result, Milosevic was deserted by the key pillars of his power - the police and the army. Several months later he found himself at The Hague facing the War Crimes Tribunal. On the day of his fall the atmosphere in the streets of Belgrade wasfestive. At the same time it was obvious that beneath the surface big political games were simmering. No one knew what the forthcoming weeks, even days or hours could bring. Very soon it was to became obvious that Milosevic and his family were just a tip of an iceberg of tyranny, violence and corruption. The social condition they helped establish was not going to be easily eradicated.