Slavimir Stojanovic, one of Serbia's most acclaimed poster designers, was about to show his work to a new client when he was surprised to find his website wasn't there. Well, actually it was, but it had been obliterated by the hackers Explode Terror Crew from Kosovo. It was "obviously an act against everything that is Serbian," Stojanovic told me. "The immediate feeling was surprise and laughter, but when you read the text below that directly accuses you as a war criminal, things start to get different." Ironically, Stojanovic is staunchly against racism, ethnic hatred, and violence in his work. "But this act reminded me that designers live in the real world and have to enjoy the reality, even if it is on the web." As of this post, he still hasn't been able to return to normal.
This was the message on the site: "Hello Serbs, now wonder why you see it on this particular page?? We do it because we can and we will continue to do so.
Now the fact is that we are pissed off at both you and EULEX to go and sign agreements which do not concern you, but you will put you in the other countries' problems, Kosovo is not Serbia .. We will always remember what you did to our people, you drove close to 1 million displaced people you killed more than 14,000 people are raped more than 20000 women. And you think we should just put it aside and pretend that nothing has happened between us. Our final word is that we honor all families who lost someone in the war against you. We want justice and we want our missing people back."
The hackers who go by the signature LiMi'HacK have Facebook and YouTube pages and list hacks for some government websites (Sri Lanka, Uganda, Djibouti), a couple of websites with .rs domain (Serbian national domain) and a collection of random websites (somehow related to the recognition of Kosovo's independence). But why a poster designer who is sympathetic to Kosovo's independence? The internet is a battleground, but the lines are very confusing.
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Having been a daily reader of your blog for years, I must admit this is the first time I've felt compelled to comment. You ask, why a sympathetic to Kosovo's independence? It seems that, whether they expected it or not, Explode's message is reaching a much broader audience than it might have if such an act was imposed on a different individual. Your choice to post this particular topic has likely served to inform a population that might otherwise find themselves unaware of the current situation. I applaud your decision to bring this to the attention of your readers!