Dragoslav Bokan

Dragoslav Bokan (Serbian Cyrillic: Драгослав Бокан, pronounced [drǎgoslaʋ bǒkan]; born 15 February 1961) is a Serbian film director, writer, politician and former paramilitary commander.[2]

Dragoslav Bokan
Bokan in 2013
Born (1961-02-15) 15 February 1961
Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian
EducationXI Belgrade Gymnasium
Alma materUniversity of Arts in Belgrade
University of Belgrade
Occupation(s)Film director and writer
Political party
  • SNO (1990–1992)
  • SOS (1992–1993)
SpouseŽeljka Zdjelar[1]
Children6
Military career
Allegiance White Eagles
Years of service1991–1992
RankCommander
Battles/warsCroatian War of Independence
Bosnian War

Biography

Bokan was born in the Savski Venac area of Belgrade on 15 February 1961 to Serb parents Ilija and Milka (née Devetak). Several of his family members (including his maternal grandfather and great-grandfather) were killed at the Jasenovac concentration camp by the Ustashe, as part of an extermination campaign of Serbs during World War II.[3]

After graduating from the XI Belgrade Gymnasium, Bokan graduated from the Department of Film and Television Directing under professor Aleksandar Mandić at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts and completed postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Philosophy.

In 1989, he directed three episodes on Visoki Dečani as part of the documentary series Svedoci vekova (Witnesses of the Centuries) produced by the broadcasting service RTB.[4] Later that year, he moved to Port Chester, New York and a year later he returned to Serbia.

Back in Serbia, Bokan joined the Serbian National Renewal party. Bokan and Mirko Jović led the paramilitary section of the party known as the White Eagles.[5] Some White Eagles members were convicted of war crimes and other atrocities, but not those under Bokan's command.[6] On 23 April 1992, Bokan was arrested in Belgrade.[7] He was accused of "possession of one hand grenade and four bullets found in his apartment" and was jailed for seven days. The trial lasted for a year and a half, and eventually resulted in a sentence of six months imprisonment.[8] The arrest was an apparent effort to ease criticism of Serbia's role in the Bosnian War.[9] After the arrest, Bokan and Jović went their separate ways.

In the early 1990s he worked for the Belgrade publishing company BIGZ and wrote for Pogledi. In 1992, he founded and led the Srpski otadžbinski savez (Serbian Fatherland Association) party and ran for the presidency of Serbia in the 1992 Serbian general election. The party however became defunct in 1993. Bokan was an uncredited screenwriter for the 1993 film Three Tickets to Hollywood.[10] In an interview with The New York Times in April 1994, he was quoted as saying, "I don't believe in democracy because I don’t believe that any group at any time can change the course and goals of their ancestors."[11]

Bokan was interviewed in the 1995 BBC documentary series The Death of Yugoslavia. A part of his interview from this series appears at the end of the Death in June song, "Lullaby to a Ghetto". In 2007, he created the Kosovo is Serbia billboard campaign with quotes from Willy Brandt, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, John F. Kennedy, and George Washington.[12][13]

Bokan founded the Lepa Srbija, Rusija danas and Vodič za život magazines, and is a contributor to the Urban Book Circle.[2] On 17 July 2014, he was named the Donetsk People's Republic representative in Serbia (with a one-year term) by Denis Pushilin, Chairman of the Supreme Council.[14] For this, he was placed on a list of people banned from entering Ukraine.[15]

Republika Srpska name claim

In a July 2014 interview for Press, Bokan revealed that he, Goran Marić (Plavi orkestar founder) and Sonja Karadžić (Radovan Karadžić's daughter) created the name Republika Srpska as had been requested of them by Velibor Ostojić, then-Minister of Information of the government of Republika Srpska.[16]

Influences

Bokan has stated that he first gained interest in Serbian nationalism as a youngster after reading the tetralogy Vreme smrti by Dobrica Ćosić. Bokan has also been influenced by a number of authors and philosophers from the esoteric Traditionalist school of thought such as René Guénon, Dragoš Kalajić, Mircea Eliade, Julius Evola, Ezra Pound and Béla Hamvas along with Nouvelle Droite thinkers Robert Steuckers and Alain de Benoist. Bokan has also expressed admiration for Miloš Crnjanski, Milan Kašanin, Léon Bloy, Ivan Ilyin and politician Jean-Marie Le Pen after meeting with him in the early 1990s.[17]

Controversies

Bokan has expressed nationalistic and far-right views.[18] In January 2021, he was permanently suspended by Facebook.[19] During his appearance on TV Pink on 29 November 2021, Bokan insulted opposition politician Marinika Tepić due to her Romanian descent and he declared her as the enemy of the people.[20][21] A day later, he denied the fact that he insulted her and then proceeded to insult her again.[22][23]

Personal life

Bokan has six children.[24] His first child Vlad passed away at the age of three days on 16 April 1993 due to an injury caused by childbirth.[25]

Published books

In 1988, Bokan initiated the publishing and Serbian-language translation of On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle.

He is also the author of the following books:

  • Ognjeni ljiljani (1998)
  • Portret mladog dendija (2000)
  • Junaci srpskog ustanka (2004) – authored under the pseudonym Vuk Devetak
  • Beograd, grad tajni (2004)
  • Novi Sad: Od varoši do grada (2005)
  • Kosovo je srce Srbije (2008)
  • Politika: Mit, hronika, enciklopedija (2008)
  • Srbija na prvom mestu (2022)[26]

References
  1. "Željka Zdjelar: Biografija sa pevanjem i pucanjem". Espreso.rs. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  2. "Dragoslav Bokan biography". Urban Book Circle. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  3. Ćirilica - Ristić, Jakšić, Bokan, Petronijević i Živanović (TV Happy, 20 November 2017)
  4. Visoki Dečani - first episode on YouTube Official channel of RTS;Visoki Dečani - second episode on YouTube Official channel of RTS;Visoki Dečani - third episode on YouTube Official channel of RTS
  5. Harden, Blaine (27 November 1991). "Serbian Toughs Harass Republic's Antiwar Activists". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  6. Politika (12 December 2007). "Bokan: Strani mediji imaju više razumevanja" (in Serbian). Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  7. Bokan arrested in Belgrade, Refworld.org; accessed 13 July 2015.
  8. TOL/Vreme (22 November 1993). "War Crimes: Eagles With Clipped Wings". Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  9. The Times-News (25 April 1992). "Ongoing battles threaten European Community peace efforts". News.google.com. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  10. IN4S (25 January 2014). "Da se sjetimo filma Tri karte za Holivud" (in Serbian). Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  11. Kifner, John (10 April 1994). "The World; Through the Serbian Mind's Eye". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  12. Nicholas Wood (16 November 2007). "Serbs use words of Western leaders to support Kosovo stand". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  13. Nicholas Wood (24 December 2007). "Serbia Enlisting Some Unlikely Faces". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  14. Narodna republika Donjeck dobija predstavništvo u Srbiji: Dragoslav Bokan, komandant srpskih Belih orlova na čelu, Novosti.rs, 12 August 2014; accessed 4 August 2018 (in Serbian)
  15. Kijev "progoni" i naprednjake, Večernje novosti, 20 October 2016; accessed 20 December 2017 (in Serbian)
  16. Pressrs.ba (19 July 2014). "Srpska suverenija od Srbije!" (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  17. Dada Vujasinović, Duga (11 April 1992). Firer mekog srca (pg. 47) (in Serbian). ISBN 9780231501569. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  18. "Krajnja desnica u Srbiji 2000 - 2020: politika, aktivnosti, grupe" (PDF). Kolektivizam i jednakost. May 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 May 2021.
  19. "Fejsbuk cenzura: Dragoslavu Bokanu trajno ugašen nalog". IN4S (in Serbian). 11 January 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  20. "Bokan optužio Mariniku Tepić da je "rumunski nepijatelj", ona najavila tužbu, opozicija optužuje vlast". Danas (in Serbian). 29 November 2021. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  21. "Govor mržnje trešti sa Pinka, Marinika Tepić proglašena za nacionalnog neprijatelja". N1 (in Serbian). 29 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  22. "Bokan odbacio kritike da je vređao Tepić, pa je opet izvređao na Pinku". N1 (in Serbian). 30 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  23. "Bokan demantovao da je vređao Tepić i onda rekao: Ona je izrod rumunskog naroda". www.021.rs (in Serbian). 30 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  24. Urban Book Circle (19 September 2019). "Драгослав Бокан" (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  25. Slobodan Despot (18 April 2014). "Quand un père doit baptiser seul son bébé mourant" (in French). Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  26. Jović, Nikola (22 July 2022). "Драгослав Бокан – Србија на првом месту" (in Serbian). Pečat. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
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