Artists Hit Out at Theatre Role for Ex-Militia Chief as Protest 'Punishment'

Artists in Serbia have criticised the appointment of a nationalist ex-paramilitary chief as the head of the National Theatre board as the authorities crack down on the culture sector days before an expected new wave of anti-government protests.

- Philip Oltermann

Dragoslav Bokan, who was announced as the new president of the National Theatre's board of directors last Thursday, was one of the founding commanders of the White Eagles, one of the most feared militia units during the Yugoslavia wars of the 1990s.

Members of the White Eagles have been accused of carrying out massacres in Bosnia and Herzegovina, though Bokan has said he never "commanded any action" and that his role in the paramilitary organisation was more secretarial.

Though he worked as a TV director and scriptwriter in the 1980s and 1990s, Bokan has no previous association with the National Theatre in Belgrade, a major cultural institution that was famous for continuing to put on productions during the Nato bombing raid in 1999.

In his role as director of the board, Bokan will not only be in charge of the theatre's finances but could also appoint new artistic directors and change the repertoire. At a time when Serbian society is in turmoil amid massive protests against the government of the nationalist president, Aleksandar Vučić, his appointment to an institution that has consistently backed the wave of unrest has clear political motivations, actors, directors and musicians have warned.