'Karadzic gave a massage to my wife and my daughters'
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CroRadio.net
Jul 23, 2008, 8:51:43 PM7/23/08
to Croatian News
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/24/radovankaradzic.warcrimes
'Karadzic gave a massage to my wife and my daughters'
The Guardian, Thursday July 24, 2008
[img]http://image.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/
2008/07/23/nick460.jpg[/img]
Nick Medic, who recently discovered that his family's alternative
therapist was Radovan Karadzic. Photograph: Sarah Lee
My mother has a day job working for an import/export company in
Belgrade. She also has a keen interest in alternative medicine - new
age spiritualism and so on. Some time in 2005 or 2006, friends
introduced her to this very interesting, dashing, distinguished
gentleman. The story was that he had just come back from America where
he had practised psychiatry, and that he was also interested in new
age treatments. He had theories about spirituality, and these friends
told my mum that it would be very interesting for her to meet him,
that they would have a lot to talk about.
One day she called me here in London, and said she had met this really
interesting man. She told me he was very eccentric-looking, but in a
positive way - with long hair and a long beard. She went on about this
man, Dr David, who had all these interesting ideas, and said I had to
meet this guy.
The next time I was in Belgrade, in 2006, I went into my mum's office,
and sitting there was this guy with a beard and a hat, looking like
someone who had been on the hippy trail. I don't really go for that
kind of thing, but we exchanged words about how he was into
alternative medicine, energy treatments and so on. He didn't really
make a big impression then, but I didn't find him unpleasant. That's
something odd, looking back, that there was nothing that you could
really latch on to. There was nothing in his eyes, no real connection,
as if he was coming from a bit of a distance. Beyond the eccentric
apparel and accessories, there was nothing outstanding about this
person.
Mum met him regularly. He held these "bio-energetic" seminars, about
healing through laying on hands. I think there are similar faith
healers in Britain. Apparently, he was very good. Mum would often say:
"He's excellent, he's amazing, with such a deep personality." She
swears he helped an autistic child to integrate with other children
and to overcome his problems. And Dad said that when he gave a
massage, you could feel the heat he generated through his hands. They
are rational people: such is the power of suggestion.
Since finding out who he is, I have thought that there's something
quite sinsister about these alternative practices. First of all, to
practise this kind of thing, you don't need any kind of certificate.
And it's a cash business, so you don't need to open a bank account.
You don't need to show anyone your tax returns. No one knows how much
you're earning - it's an ideal set-up for someone who is a fugitive.
It makes you wonder if someone advised him to do this.
On Monday, I was at work in London when my boss asked me if I had seen
the pictures of Karadzic. I had a look on the Guardian website. "Hang
on," I thought, "it can't be" ... but it said that while a fugitive he
was known as Dr David. I phoned my dad, and he just said, "It's him."
I phoned my wife and told her. She had to walk out of her office she
was so shocked. Dr David had given her treatment. And he treated my
two little girls, something that I didn't know until she told me on
Monday. He treated them in March, at my family home in Belgrade, when
I wasn't there. In Serbia every family has a patron saint: you have
feasts when you invite all your friends round - your good friends. Dr
David was there. My wife had told me that she had met him, that she
didn't know what to think of him. Now she tells me he had given her
the full works - massaging her, and our seven-year-old twins. He was
like our family's alternative doctor.
I think a lot of Serbians would disagree with me because of their
nationalism, but to me there's no difference between Karadzic and the
people tried at Nuremberg. It's the same mindset. It's as if someone
like Josef Mengele was our family doctor.
I despise him. And now, not only is he a war criminal, but he's also
like a petty crook. I don't feel sorry for him at all.
It's a very weird feeling, though. A bit like when someone finds out
that their dad is not their real dad, I imagine. It's very hard to
take in. It feels a bit like having a guilty secret come out into the
open. In my mind it's very hard to square those two people. I now know
they are the same person, but there's nothing to connect them. One is
a war criminal; the other is an alternative, hippyish guru.
He couldn't hide for ever though, and I think that was in his
character. He couldn't stay out of the limelight. He had started to
appear on television, and to draw crowds to his lectures - 400 people
attended a lecture of his in Belgrade a couple of months ago. He had
serialised articles published in a health magazine and held regular
classes for people interested in alternative medicine. He was setting
himself up as a leader again. Mum said that he had looked very nervous
recently. Last week they formed the new government and sacked the old
security services minister, so he probably knew this was it; his time
was up.
The whole world had been looking for this guy - he was the second most-
wanted after Osama bin Laden, with a reward of $5m on his head. If
only I had recognised our hippy doctor and put something in his
coffee ...
Nick Medic was talking to Sam Wollaston
'Karadzic gave a massage to my wife and my daughters'
The Guardian, Thursday July 24, 2008
[img]http://image.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/
2008/07/23/nick460.jpg[/img]
Nick Medic, who recently discovered that his family's alternative
therapist was Radovan Karadzic. Photograph: Sarah Lee
My mother has a day job working for an import/export company in
Belgrade. She also has a keen interest in alternative medicine - new
age spiritualism and so on. Some time in 2005 or 2006, friends
introduced her to this very interesting, dashing, distinguished
gentleman. The story was that he had just come back from America where
he had practised psychiatry, and that he was also interested in new
age treatments. He had theories about spirituality, and these friends
told my mum that it would be very interesting for her to meet him,
that they would have a lot to talk about.
One day she called me here in London, and said she had met this really
interesting man. She told me he was very eccentric-looking, but in a
positive way - with long hair and a long beard. She went on about this
man, Dr David, who had all these interesting ideas, and said I had to
meet this guy.
The next time I was in Belgrade, in 2006, I went into my mum's office,
and sitting there was this guy with a beard and a hat, looking like
someone who had been on the hippy trail. I don't really go for that
kind of thing, but we exchanged words about how he was into
alternative medicine, energy treatments and so on. He didn't really
make a big impression then, but I didn't find him unpleasant. That's
something odd, looking back, that there was nothing that you could
really latch on to. There was nothing in his eyes, no real connection,
as if he was coming from a bit of a distance. Beyond the eccentric
apparel and accessories, there was nothing outstanding about this
person.
Mum met him regularly. He held these "bio-energetic" seminars, about
healing through laying on hands. I think there are similar faith
healers in Britain. Apparently, he was very good. Mum would often say:
"He's excellent, he's amazing, with such a deep personality." She
swears he helped an autistic child to integrate with other children
and to overcome his problems. And Dad said that when he gave a
massage, you could feel the heat he generated through his hands. They
are rational people: such is the power of suggestion.
Since finding out who he is, I have thought that there's something
quite sinsister about these alternative practices. First of all, to
practise this kind of thing, you don't need any kind of certificate.
And it's a cash business, so you don't need to open a bank account.
You don't need to show anyone your tax returns. No one knows how much
you're earning - it's an ideal set-up for someone who is a fugitive.
It makes you wonder if someone advised him to do this.
On Monday, I was at work in London when my boss asked me if I had seen
the pictures of Karadzic. I had a look on the Guardian website. "Hang
on," I thought, "it can't be" ... but it said that while a fugitive he
was known as Dr David. I phoned my dad, and he just said, "It's him."
I phoned my wife and told her. She had to walk out of her office she
was so shocked. Dr David had given her treatment. And he treated my
two little girls, something that I didn't know until she told me on
Monday. He treated them in March, at my family home in Belgrade, when
I wasn't there. In Serbia every family has a patron saint: you have
feasts when you invite all your friends round - your good friends. Dr
David was there. My wife had told me that she had met him, that she
didn't know what to think of him. Now she tells me he had given her
the full works - massaging her, and our seven-year-old twins. He was
like our family's alternative doctor.
I think a lot of Serbians would disagree with me because of their
nationalism, but to me there's no difference between Karadzic and the
people tried at Nuremberg. It's the same mindset. It's as if someone
like Josef Mengele was our family doctor.
I despise him. And now, not only is he a war criminal, but he's also
like a petty crook. I don't feel sorry for him at all.
It's a very weird feeling, though. A bit like when someone finds out
that their dad is not their real dad, I imagine. It's very hard to
take in. It feels a bit like having a guilty secret come out into the
open. In my mind it's very hard to square those two people. I now know
they are the same person, but there's nothing to connect them. One is
a war criminal; the other is an alternative, hippyish guru.
He couldn't hide for ever though, and I think that was in his
character. He couldn't stay out of the limelight. He had started to
appear on television, and to draw crowds to his lectures - 400 people
attended a lecture of his in Belgrade a couple of months ago. He had
serialised articles published in a health magazine and held regular
classes for people interested in alternative medicine. He was setting
himself up as a leader again. Mum said that he had looked very nervous
recently. Last week they formed the new government and sacked the old
security services minister, so he probably knew this was it; his time
was up.
The whole world had been looking for this guy - he was the second most-
wanted after Osama bin Laden, with a reward of $5m on his head. If
only I had recognised our hippy doctor and put something in his
coffee ...
Nick Medic was talking to Sam Wollaston
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