| NATO bombing of RTS | |
|---|---|
| Part of Kosovo War | |
Building of RTS damaged in NATO strike |
|
| Type | Missile attack |
| Location | Belgrade, Serbia |
| Target | Television station |
| Date | April 23, 1999 02:06 hrs (CET) |
| Executed by | NATO |
| Casualties | 16 killed ? injured |
|
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The NATO bombing of the Serb Radio and Television headquarters occurred on 23 April 1999, during the Kosovo War, and NATO's aerial campaign against Yugoslavia severely damaging the Belgrade headquarters of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS). Sixteen employees of RTS died when a single NATO rocket hit the building in Belgrade. Many were trapped for days, only communicating over mobile phones. The television station went to air 24 hours later from a secret location. The bombing started controversy in Serbia, as it turned out that employees were not properly evacuated and that it was staffed by more than the minimum necessary number of people.
A new building has been built next to the bombed station while a monument was erected to all of those who have died in the attack.
The murder of British TV-presenter Jill Dando three days later on Monday 26 April 1999 could be linked to the bombing; a Serb claimed to have killed her in revenge.
A report conducted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) entitled "Final Report to the Prosecutor by the Committee Established to Review the NATO Bombing Campaign Against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" said:
Insofar as the attack actually was aimed at disrupting the communications network, it was legally acceptable ... NATO’s targeting of the RTS building for propaganda purposes was an incidental (albeit complementary) aim of its primary goal of disabling the Serbian military command and control system and to destroy the nerve system and apparatus that keeps Milosević in power
In regards to civilian casualties, it further stated that though they were, "unfortunately high, they do not appear to be clearly disproportionate."
Famous quotes containing the words bombing, radio, television and/or headquarters:
“The compulsion to do good is an innate American trait. Only North Americans seem to believe that they always should, may, and actually can choose somebody with whom to share their blessings. Ultimately this attitude leads to bombing people into the acceptance of gifts.”
—Ivan Illich (b. 1926)
“There was a girl who was running the traffic desk, and there was a woman who was on the overnight for radio as a producer, and my desk assistant was a woman. So when the world came to an end, we took over.”
—Marya McLaughlin, U.S. television newswoman. As quoted in Women in Television News, ch. 3, by Judith S. Gelfman (1976)
“All television ever did was shrink the demand for ordinary movies. The demand for extraordinary movies increased. If any one thing is wrong with the movie industry today, it is the unrelenting effort to astonish.”
—Clive James (b. 1939)
“If the national security is involved, anything goes. There are no rules. There are people so lacking in roots about what is proper and what is improper that they don’t know there’s anything wrong in breaking into the headquarters of the opposition party.”
—Helen Gahagan Douglas (1900–1980)