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Milosevic Questions Tribunal’s Impartiality
Serbia’s President says Tribunal is
By Michael Shields
"I do not believe that this tribunal is an institute for defamation, but it is completely clear from its public conduct until now that it is a political and not a legal institution," he said in an interview released ahead of publication on Monday.
"Justice can only be done when the same standards apply for all. Unfortunately, the work of the tribunal in The Hague has until now offered no basis for such an impression," he added.
Created by the U.N. Security Council in May 1993, the criminal tribunal for former Yugoslavia is the first international body for the prosecution of war crimes since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials held after World War Two. To date the tribunal has indicted 58 suspects -- 46 Serbs, nine Croats and three Muslims -- six of whom are being held at the tribunal's detention centre.
Karadzic and Mladic remain at large, which some Western leaders say poses a major obstacle to the successful implementation of the Dayton peace accord reached last year to end four years of fighting in former Yugoslavia. Milosevic, blamed by many in the West for fomenting the war, dismissed accusations that he had broken his vow to detain war crimes suspects by allowing Mladic to attend a funeral for a comrade in Belgrade.
"Not just in Serbia, but especially in Serbia, a funeral is a holy day," he said. "Anyone can come and go freely. Even if (Bosnian President Alija) Izetbegovic had come to this funeral, he would have had nothing to fear." Milosevic insisted in the broad-ranging interview that Serbs, Croats and Muslims shared responsibility for the ethnic war that followed Yugoslavia's disintegration. Some 250,000 people died in Europe's worst fighting since World War Two. He said Serbia would do its part to bring war criminals before the courts, but would itself try suspects from Serbia.
"Whoever was responsible (for war crimes) on Serbian territory will be brought to justice. But trials against war
criminals from Serbia -- if there are to be any -- will not take place outside of Serbia," he said, noting Serbia had started its first war crimes trials two years ago.
On other subjects, Milosevic strongly supported elections due to take place in Bosnia in September, welcomed the return of war refugees and called for improving ties with Germany. "These elections are of huge importance. They must and will take place, because as long as there are no legal democratic institutions in Bosnia, the situation there will not normalise," he said. "I am certain the elections will lead to radical changes and positive results. The majority of all citizens is for peace."
Milosevic said successful completion of elections in the second half of September would pave the way for the NATO-led peacekeeping force to pull out of Bosnia when its mandate expires at the end of this year. The elections also held the key to the return of refugees, he said. "We must remain realistic. The large-scale return (of refugees) can only happen after conditions normalise in Bosnia. That is why the elections there are so incredibly important."
He also called for closer ties with Germany, which many Serbs view with suspicion because of Bonn's backing for Croatian independence and Nazi Germany's brutal wartime occupation. "Germany can be a valuable ally in preserving the peace," he said. "The history that weighs on both our countries must remain in the past. It may not be repeated for Serbia or for Germany." |
BONN, June 8 (Reuters) - Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, under intense international pressure to hand over Bosnian Serb war crimes suspects for trial, has questioned the impartiality of the U.N. war crimes tribunal in the Hague. In an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, Milosevic did not say whether he would cooperate in handing over Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander, Ratko Mladic, to face trial in The Hague, as he has promised.
WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL
Key Facts about the War Crimes Tribunal
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia from the United Nations
Coalition for International Justice
Reports concerning human rights abuses in Bosnia published by Intac Access
Major War Criminals/Suspects from CalTech's Bosnia Site
Reports on War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia from CalTech's Bosnia Site
SERBIA’S PERSPECTIVE
Serbia Today Current News from Serbia
Serbian and Yugoslavian Sites Online
Serbian Unity Congress Ensuring the Continuation of Serbian Heritage
Serbia Home Page
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