FLORENCE HARTMANN INDICTED - ICTY TRIES TO SILENCE A WHISTLEBLOWER

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (September 1,2008) - Florence Hartmann, former spokeswoman for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, was last week indicted by the ICTY, on the charge of contempt of court, for allegedly disclosing classified information relating to the proceedings against Serbian war criminal Slobodan Milosevic.

This information was allegedly published in her book, Peace and Punishment (Paix et chatiment). Hartmann has rejected the charges, arguing that she has not revealed confidential information, but only information she had gathered through her work as a journalist, and that her indictment represents a blow by the Office of the Prosecutor against free speech and transparency. She has pledged to fight the charges.

Hartmann is the first person without roots in the former Yugoslavia, and the first former ICTY official to be indicted by the Tribunal. As she points out, her book was published a year ago, making the delay in the issuing of her indictment peculiar. The charges refer to a case that is no longer actual, and cannot be motivated by any desire to ensure the proper functioning of the proceedings.

The indictment appears, indeed, to be an attempt to muzzle a whistleblower who has revealed information about the internal politics and incompetence within the Tribunal, and a warning to other former Tribunal officials who might be tempted to reveal more such information.

The ICTY is a highly flawed institution with a very patchy record; badly organised, filled with many incompetent apparatchiks alongside some committed professionals, riven with internal factionalism and corrupted by political pressures both external and self-induced, it has failed to deliver justice to the peoples of the former Yugoslavia.

The biggest criticism of it has been its failure to indict most of the principal Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian war-criminals, a failure that, on the basis of my eyewitness experience, is attributed in large part to the poor strategy of del Ponte as Chief Prosecutor.

But a perhaps even more shameful failing on the Tribunal’s part was the one about which Florence writes: the decision of the judges in the Serbian war criminal Slobodan Milosevic case to allow the genocidal Serbia, when submitting to the Tribunal the minutes of the ‘Supreme Defence Council’ of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, to censor parts of it in the version that was made public.

As Florence argues, it was thanks to the Tribunal’s collusion with Serbia in the suppression of this crucial piece of evidence, that Bosnia was not able to draw upon the latter in its case against Serbia for genocide at the International Court of Justice, leading to Serbia’s unjustified acquittal.

Far from punishing the perpetrators of genocide in Bosnia, the Tribunal has helped to shield them.To date, only one individual, a lowly deputy corps commander of the genocidal paramilitary formations of the Serbians living in Bosnia (VRS), has been successfully prosecuted for a genocide-related offence by the ICTY, while not a single official from genocidal Serbia has yet been convicted of any war-crime in Bosnia whatsoever).

The Tribunal may or may not have a legal case against Hartmann. What is certain, however, is that Hartmann was acting in the public interest in revealing the information she did. The people of the former Yugoslavia have a right to know why they have not received much in the way of justice from the ICTY, while the citizens of the world have a right to know why this UN court, funded by their taxes, has produced such poor results. Public interest would best be served if more former Tribunal officials showed as much principle and courage as Florence, and came forward with more insider information so that we can better understand this whole, sorry story. This would help to ensure that other international courts could avoid the ICTY’s mistakes.

Florence Hartmann is a brave, principled and committed individual who has done more than anyone to reveal the extent to which the international community and the international courts have betrayed the cause of justice for Bosnia, and her accusations of Western complicity in Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic’s evasion of arrest for thirteen years have been essentially vindicated.

Earlier this year, former Hague Tribunal insider has added her comments to claims that former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS" and one of the masterminds of the genocide against the Bosnian people,Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadžić enjoyed support from Britain,the United States,Russia and France.Hartmann told the Belgrade daily Blic that the UN war crimes court's prosecution on several occasions gave the U.S. exact locations where Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic was hiding. But, Hartmann says, "they did nothing".

"Information about the fugitives' whereabouts was abundant, however, it would always turn out that one of the three countries – the U.S., Britain or France – would block arrests," she said.

Also,according to Hartmann,Great Britain, USA and France purposefully left free former leader of the genocidal paramilitary fascist formations of the Serbians living in Bosnia (VRS),Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladic who is also wanted for genocide committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

In March 2000, Hartmann says, the ICTY chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte asked Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, whether the U.S. had a secret agreement with Serbian war criminal Karadzic. Clark in turn accused the French president Chirac of cutting a pact with (Serbian war criminals) Karadzic and Mladic to win the release of two French pilots held by the genocidal Serbian fascist formations for three months in 1995.
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SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL RADOVAN KARADZIC REFUSES TO ENTER GENOCIDE PLEA

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands (August 29,2008) - Former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS" and one of the masterminds of the genocide against the Bosnian people,Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic has refused to enter a plea to to 11 charges of genocide and war crimes during his second appearance in front of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) today.

During a 24-minute hearing, Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic was told that he will be given the chance to air his claims that Nato and the US are trying to kill him at a special session of the UN's war crimes court on Sept 17.

"I will not plead in line with my standpoint as regards to this court," Serbian fascist said, refusing to plead guilty or not guilty.

Iain Bonomy, a Scottish UN judge who will be presiding over the rest of the trial proceedings, automatically entered a not guilty plea on Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic's behalf, in line with the court's rule.

"In that case I enter a plea of not guilty on your behalf," the judge said.

The 63-year-old Serbian war criminal continued to insist that he would represent himself over the 11 United Nations charges, but announced his intention of having a "team of associates" at a later date.


Genocide survivors,Bosnian women from the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica, watch the television broadcast of the appearance of former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS" and one of the masterminds of the genocide against the Bosnian people committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia,Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic in the court room of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague,the Netherlands,August 29, 2008. Serbian fascist Radovan Karadzic refused to enter pleas for all of the 11 charges against him. The charges against Karadzic include two of genocide over the 43-month siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo and the 1995 mass murder of 10,000 Bosnian civilians in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic who evaded justice for over a decade before finally being arrested in July while living as a faith healer in Belgrade, denounced the court as part of a Western conspiracy to kill him.

Judge Bonomy informed Serbian fascist that he would have the chance to argue his allegations of United States murder plot against him at a "status conference" in 19 days' time.

The judge, called in to replace his Dutch predecessor after complaints of bias from Serbian war criminal.He sharply criticised UN prosecutors for delays after hearing that a planned review of the charges contained in an "operative indictment", first drafted over eight years ago, would not be finished until the end of September.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic is facing trial for genocide and other charges adding up to the most serious war crimes that have taken place on European soil since the Second World War.

UN prosecutors have indicted Serbian fascist Karadzic on 11 counts of offences including: genocide, complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity, extermination, violation of the customs of war, murder and the taking of hostages.

The accusations of genocide will focus on Mr Karadzic's pivotal role in the leadership of the Serbians living in Bosnia which orchestrated the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of up to 10,000 Bosnian civilians and the "death or forced departure" of Bosnian civilians from over 40 Bosnian towns,during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

The Srebrenica massacre, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II, has been termed genocide by two United Nations tribunals : International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and The International Criminal Court (ICC).

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic is also accused of war crimes following the shelling of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo where 12,000 Bosnian civilians (including 1600 children) were murdered by the genocidal Serbian aggressor.


The Face Of Evil - Former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS" and one of the masterminds of the genocide against the Bosnian people,Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic sits in the court room of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague,the Netherlands,August 29, 2008. The UN's court has entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf to genocide and war crimes charges after he refused to file his own plea.
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SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL RADOVAN KARADZIC WAS PROTECTED BY BRITAIN

LONDON, UK (August 11,2008) - Former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS",Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic,who has been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide and war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia, was able to avoid capture for 13 years because he received protection from London, a former Hague Tribunal official has claimed,the British Daily Telegraph reported yesterday.

James Luko, a former United Nations political affairs officer in Bosnia and a Hague Tribunal investigator, told a Belgrade newspaper that Gen Angus Ramsay, the former commander of British peace­keepers in Bosnia, was ordered by superiors in London to leave Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic alone just minutes before British troops prepared to capture him in August 1997.

Mr Luko, who spent several years in Belgrade before resigning in 2005, claimed he was one of three people present when Gen Ramsay entered a room at British Army headquarters in the northern Bosnian city of Banja Luka moments after speaking to London. Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic’s convoy, monitored from an Awacs plane, was visible on a large screen in the room.

“We are not police, we are soldiers, and therefore this is not our responsibility ”, Gen Ramsay allegedly said.

A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defence said: “We have no knowledge of this alleged incident and we would not comment on intelligence matters. The UK has been fully committed from the outset to bringing to justice indicted war criminals from the former Yugoslavia.”

A report in the same newspaper last week claimed that Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic was living under US protection until the CIA caught him breaking an agreement to stay out of politics.

In his first appearance before The Hague Tribunal, Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic claimed that Richard Holbrooke, the former US Assistant Secretary of State, had guaranteed him immunity if he withdrew from public life.

A former Hague Tribunal insider has added her comments to claims that Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadžić enjoyed support from Britain,the United States,Russia and France. Former Hague spokeswoman Florence Hartmann told the Belgrade daily Blic that the UN war crimes court's prosecution on several occasions gave the U.S. exact locations where Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic was hiding. But, Hartmann says, "they did nothing".

"Information about the fugitives' whereabouts was abundant, however, it would always turn out that one of the three countries – the U.S., Britain or France – would block arrests," she said.
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UNITED STATES WANTS ME DEAD,SAYS SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL RADOVAN KARADZIC

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands (August 1,2008) - Former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS" and one of the masterminds of the genocide against Bosnians,committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia,Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic said yesterday the United States wanted him dead and accused it of reneging on a deal to shield him from trial by the UN war crimes court.

In a submission to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic said the United States' Bosnian peace negotiator Richard Holbrooke had promised he would avoid a trial if he withdrew from public life.

"Mr Holbrooke undertook on behalf of the USA that I would not be tried before this tribunal..." Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic said in the written submission made public by the ICTY.


Former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS",Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic (C) stands in the court room of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at the start of his initial appearance in The Hague July 31, 2008. Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic faces a U.N. war crimes judge for the first time to answer charges of genocide for his actions during the 1992-95 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

American fascist Richard Holbrooke strongly denied any such deal was struck after Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic, who was captured on July 21, first made the claims when he made his initial appearance before the UN tribunal yesterday.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic said in the documents that the offer was made in 1996 to "the statesmen and ministers who were my authorised representatives".

This was in turn for Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic withdrawing "not only from public but also from party offices and completely disappear from the public arena, not give interviews and not even publish literary works, in a word become invisible long enough for the Dayton agreement to be implemented in full."

He claimed former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had proposed to Biljana Plavsic, former leader of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS", "that I get out of the way and go to Russia, Greece or Serbia and open a private clinic ... just as long as I left Pale."

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic said he tried to meet his end of the deal, but added it later became apparent there were attempts to "liquidate me".

"It is clear that, unable to fulfil the commitments he had undertaken on behalf of the USA, he (Holbrooke) switched to Plan B -- the liquidation of Radovan Karadzic," Serbian war criminal said.

"The agreement, which should have brought me peace and freedom, thus became a source of great danger to my life, and to the life and safety of my family and even my friends," Serbian war criminal said.


Former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS",Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic stands in the court room of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at the start of his initial appearance in The Hague July 31, 2008. Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic faces a U.N. war crimes judge for the first time to answer charges of genocide for his actions during the 1992-95 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic added that "Holbrooke's wish for my disappearance ... is today still fresher and stronger and the actions aimed at bringing this about are tireless."

"While these activities continue, and with this threat to my life, I have to sit in a place which is known to him and his friends and prepare my defence," he said.

American fascist Richard Holbrooke denied in an interview with CNN yesterday that any deal with Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic existed.

He also said recently that he still supports the existence of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS",which is Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic's creation.

“The Dayton Accords are clear. There can be no breakaway of any of Bosnia’s parts, the country’s entities are a reality, and it’s necessary to pluck up the courage to bolster constitutional organization for Bosnia to be able to take further steps towards the EU, and quickly become a member of Euro-Atlantic integration,” Holbrooke told a member of the Bosnian State Presidency Zeljko Komcic in April,2008.

American fascist Richard Holbrooke's argument that "the RS is a reality" is bunk. For a few years, Nazi Germany's occupation of most of Europe was a reality, also, but it was neither legal nor moral -just like the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS". In connection to Nazi Germany, it has been famously said that forcing the victims of genocide to live with and accept the results of genocide is also an act of genocide. For Holbrooke to say that the genocidal fascist Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS" is a reality that Bosnians "should accept", is simply morally indefensible.

At yesterday's hearing, Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic told ICTY judge Alphons Orie that the deal had put his life at risk.

"I was in danger of being liquidated because I had made a commitment,"
Serbian war criminal stated. He expressed fears that "Holbrooke's long arm" may extend even into the courtroom.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic indicated he will defend himself at the trial and experts have said he will try to make it a political showcase.

"I cannot imagine that his defence would be anything but a political one," said Pierre Hazan, author of an acclaimed book on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) that is handling
Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic.

"He cannot defend himself on a judicial level."

Florence Hartmann, former spokeswoman and adviser to previous war crimes prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, said Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic has made it clear he would have "things to say" about promises made by the West in peace negotiations.

"The family has always said they have evidence of proof (of the secret agreement)," she said.

"Many have claimed that Holbrooke promised not to deliver Karadzic to the ICTY in exchange for his exit from the public scene," Hartmann added.


Sitting under pictures of victims of the genocide, Bosnian women,the genocide survivors, from Srebrenica react while watching former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS",Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic's court proceedings on television in their office in Tuzla July 31, 2008, during his initial appearance in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic faces a U.N. war crimes judge for the first time yesterday to answer genocide charges after his dramatic arrest that ended 13 years on the run. Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic faces two charges of genocide over the 43-month siege of the Bosnian caoital Sarajevo and the 1995 mass murder of some 10,000 Bosnian civilians from the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic, 63, was arrested in Belgrade 13 years after the ICTY first issued an indictment against him over numerous genocidal campaigns during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

He faces 11 charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The charges focus on the 44-month siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo that left 10,000 Bosnian civilians dead, and the July 1995 mass murder of around 10,000 Bosnian civilians in the UN-protected safe area of the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica.

If convicted, Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic faces life imprisonment.A plea hearing was scheduled for August 29th,2008.
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ICTY WELCOMES ARREST OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL RADOVAN KARADZIC

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands (July 24,2008) - The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) welcomes the arrest of Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic and looks forward to his prompt transfer to the Tribunal in The Hague in order to stand trial,the ICTY said.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic has been charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) with genocide, extermination, murder, deportation, inhumane acts, and other crimes against Bosnian civilians during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

The ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz has also welcomed the arrest of Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic, it was announced by the ICTY.

"I have been informed by my colleagues from Belgrade on the successful operation that resulted in arrest of Radovan Karadzic. On the behalf of the Prosecutor’s Office, I congratulate to the Serbian authorities, especially the National Security Council, Serbian action team in charge of searching after the fugitives and the prosecutor’s Office for the war crimes on undertaking this big step in cooperation with the Tribunal," the ICTY Chief Prosecutor Brammertz said

He pointed out that this is a very important day for the Bosnian genocide victims that have waited for the arrest of Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic for more than a decade.

He also added that this is a big day for justice since it clearly demonstrates that no one is beyond law and that all fugitives from justice will be, sooner or later, arrested.

The date of Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadžić’s transfer into the Tribunal’s custody will be determined in due course.
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BOSNIAN STATE COURT SHOULD TRY SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL BILJANA PLAVSIC FOR GENOCIDE

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 21,2008) - Prisons in Sweden are famous for their "enlightened" attitude towards inmates – hardly surprising given that the country’s human rights standards are the best in the world.

But the convicted Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic, a former political leader of the Serbian living in Bosnia and the first woman sentenced for war crimes at International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), might disagree.

Ever since she was transferred from The Hague to the Hinseberg Prison for Women, Sweden's only national prison for females, her letters have been full of complaints, some quite bizarre – air-conditioning too strong, a birthday cake presented to her by wardens not big enough.

In January 2007, Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic asked the Swedish government for an amnesty. Although that request was declined, she did not give up. Just two weeks ago,she had tried again. The tribunal and the Swedish government are yet to respond.

The Plavsic case should serve as a lesson for future plea agreements at the war crimes chamber of the Bosnian State Court. Like the tribunal, this has no mechanisms for punishing those war criminals who admit their guilt and then, after receiving minor sentences, protest their innocence.

Following her plea agreement with Hague prosecutors in 2002, Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic accepted partial responsibility for war crimes committed by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor during the 1992-95 Serbian aggression against Bosnia, including one count of persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds.

She made a formal apology and was subsequently sentenced to only 11 years in prison in 2003. Crucially, prosecutors dropped genocide charges against her.

While Plavsic pleaded guilty and showed repentance at her trial, her subsequent protestations of innocence and requests for amnesty tell a very different story.

In her recently published memoirs, “Hunt: Me and War Criminals”, former Hague chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic claimed to be innocent to tribunal prosecutors after she was sentenced.

Shortly after her conviction, Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic said her repentance for her war crimes was false – a show to deceive the Hague prosecutors and judges, as well as the Bosnian public.

Indeed, in her book, Del Ponte admits that she should never have relied on Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic’s honesty.

Unfortunately, there is nothing the tribunal can do about that.

A close examination of the chain of events that led to the deal between Hague prosecutors and Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic could be instructive for the Bosnian State Court and help it avoid making the same mistakes.

As part of Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic’s plea deal, she laid the blame for the genocide committed during the 1992-95 Serbian aggression against Bosnia on the late former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, and on former leaders of the Serbians living in Bosnia,Serbian war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic, on the other hand, only “supported and endorsed” the genocidal objective.

In a statement, Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic admitted to the Court that she was repeatedly told about crimes against Bosnian civilians, yet she refused to accept they happened.

“Our leadership, of which I was a necessary part, led an effort which victimised countless innocent people,” she admitted.

Even though the media reported her plea favourably, emphasising the positive role her admission of guilt could play in the reconciliation process, there were some who doubted her honesty. Her apology was certainly too little, too late for the Bosnian genocide victims’ associations.

The sceptics were proven right. Her later claims of innocence and requests for amnesty show the convicted Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic has not come to terms with what she did, nor accepted her punishment.

So where did the Hague prosecutors go wrong?

Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic plea agreement was a clumsy combination of retributive and restorative justice. The retributive part, or the punishment, was reduced by the restorative part – her apology and the potential for reconciliation this could bring.

Theoreticians believe there are three steps necessary for restorative justice to be valid.

The first is for the criminal to understand the consequences of their actions and feel truly guilty; secondly, show a desire to repair the damage done; and, thirdly, accept punishment willingly.

In Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic’s case, the first condition appeared to be met when she made her apology in the ICTY courtroom. However, this principle was violated when prosecutors agreed to drop the genocide charges against her.

The natural second step would be for her to call for multiculturalism across Bosnia. The genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS" emerged partly as a result of Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic’s participation in the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.


Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic

Therefore, if the convicted Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic wanted to redeem herself, it would be reasonable to expect that while she was in prison she should send messages calling for peace and multiculturalism and warning about the dangers of Serbian fascism – which she has not done.

Finally, she should serve her shamefully low 11-year sentence with dignity and without complaints. This is not happening.

If Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic did not accept responsibility and did not truly repent, why then did she bother to apologise at all? Some analysts see part of the answer in the wording of her apology.

“I came for two reasons: to confront these charges and to spare my people, for it was clear that they would pay the price of any refusal to come,” she said at the time.

Some believe this implied that she wanted to avoid the sanctions the international community was threatening to impose on the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS" if it refused to cooperate with the tribunal.

A greater insight into Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic’s psyche can be found in “I Testify”, or "Svedocim", the lengthy volume Plavsic wrote in prison and published in 2005.

The book is full of extreme fascist messages in line with her wartime rhetoric, and its content flies in face of her agreement with Hague prosecutors.

In one of Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic's most infamous statements, published in 1993 by the Belgrade weekly magazine Svet, she said Bosnians were “genetically spoiled material” which justified their destruction.

In I Testify, she speaks about sacrificing herself for the Serbian people, suggesting that she only pleaded guilty to save the Serbian people from the burden of collective guilt.

It is curious that nobody from the ICTY has ever commented on her book – despite the fact that its contents contradict the statement she made following her plea agreement, in which she gave up her right to claim innocence.

Del Ponte’s memoirs reveal more of what happened during negotiations for Plavsic’s plea agreement.

At the time, she said, her office was surprised to hear from the accused’s lawyers that she was willing to plead guilty – but not to the count of genocide. Now it seems clear that Del Ponte accepted this deal too readily.

In her book, Del Ponte writes that although Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic promised to testify against Serbian war criminal Momcilo Krajisnik who is also a former leader of the Serbians living in Bosnia, she changed her mind after she moved from the Hague detention unit to the Swedish prison.

“Dressed in a stiff tweed skirt, like a proper British lady, [Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic] informed me that she was a doctor of biology and proceeded to describe the superiority of the Serbian people. Her nonsense was nauseating, and I brought the meeting to an end. I wanted to seek life imprisonment against her,” said Del Ponte.

Now it seems the former prosecutor should have trusted her first impressions.

While Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic promised verbally to testify against other Serbian war criminals, she refused to put it in writing.

“I had felt that my personal contact with Plavsic, despite her racial-superiority claptrap, had been so cordial that I could trust her,” said Del Ponte, admitting this was an error.

In her book, Del Ponte describes trying to rectify the situation.

“We must advise the Trial Chamber of what Mrs Plavsic is now saying,” Del Ponte told her team, at some point following Plavsic’s volte face. “Let's present a motion to the court to put Biljana Plavsic on trial.”

In the former prosecutor’s memoirs, she recalls sending a motion to the tribunal president – although does not say when this took place. However, he apparently returned it, saying he lacked jurisdiction.

She then sent the same motion to the trial chamber that accepted the plea.

“I still await their response,” she wrote.

As the court’s deadline of 2010 draws closers, Del Ponte continues to wait for an answer.

However, there might be a job here for the Bosnian State Court. While it is not possible to charge someone for the same crimes twice, the fact that the genocide charges against Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic were dropped could open the door for a new indictment against her.

If the judges in The Hague were to find that she violated her plea agreement, there is a real possibility for re-opening her genocide case at the Bosnian State Court.

It seems increasingly unlikely that Serbian war criminals Radovan Karadzic or Ratko Mladic (who are charged with genocide by the ICTY) are ever going to see the inside of an ICTY courtroom.

Since Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic was the highest-ranking politician of the Serbians living in Bosnia to stand trial at The Hague, it would be a right thing for the justice process to try her for all crimes she was suspected of having committed,including the crime of genocide.

It would replace the ICTY’s ill-advised restorative principle with the proper retributive justice Serbian war criminal Biljana Plavsic deserves.
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EU TROOPS RAID HOUSE OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL RADOVAN KARADZIC'S WIFE

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (16 July,2008) - EU peacekeeping troops have raided the apartment of Ljiljana Karadzic, the wife of former leader of the Serbians living in Bosnia,Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic who is charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) with genocide and other war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia Radovan Karadzic.

The raid was carried out on Tuesday early morning at 0530 CEST (0330 GMT), in the Bosnian town of Pale some 18 kilometres east of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

The search, carried out by the European Union Force in Bosnia (EUFOR) was ordered by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY.

During the raid, EUFOR seized documents and materials as clues in revealing the whereabouts of Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic, EUFOR said in its statement, saying it will continue to search for war crimes suspects until they all face justice.
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TRIAL OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINALS MILAN AND SREDOJE LUKIC BEGINS

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands (July 10,2008) - Serbian war criminals Milan and Sredoje Lukic who committed numerous war crimes against Bosnian civilians in the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad,during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia went on trial yesterday before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague,the Netherlands.

In one horrifying mass murder in June 1992, Serbian war criminals Milan and Sredoje Lukic barricaded nearly 70 Bosnian civilians — elderly men, women and children ranging in age from 75 years to just 2 days — into a house and set fire to it, Prosecutor Dermot Groome told judges at the ICTY.

As flames tore through the crowded rooms and the victims inside screamed in agony, Serbian war criminals Milan and Sredoje Lukic stood outside shooting anybody who tried to escape, he said.

One boy and his mother somehow managed to flee the building separately.After he fled, the boy cowered in a creek bed as the horror unfolded in front of his eyes.

"He cried as he watched the house burn. Listening to the screams of his many burning relatives, believing his mother was among them. It would not be until three years later ... that the mother and that son would learn that each had survived this holocaust," Prosecutor Groome stated.

Serbian war criminals Milan and Sredoje Lukic , showing no signs of emotion, sat in court listening to a translation of the prosecution's opening statement through headphones. They have pleaded not guilty to charges including mass murder, extermination and persecution, which carry a maximum life sentence.

Groome said Serbian war criminals Milan and Sredoje Lukic repeated the atrocity of deteining another 70 Bosnian civilians into a house and torching them less than two weeks later.

Again, one of the Bosnian civilians managed to flee, but only after making a heart-rending decision.

The woman, who will testify at the trial under the pseudonym VG114, was huddling with her sister in the house as it burned, Groome said.

"Efforts to keep the flames off her 9-year-old sister proved futile, she considered that her last act would be to climb out of the house and warn other Bosnians to flee for their lives," he told the three-judge panel.

"So in an act that still haunts her to this day — and will for the rest of her life — she loosened her sister's grip on her clothes, abandoned her to the flames and started to bang on the garage door blocking the window," Groome added.

"She did escape the fire that night but not before her flesh caught fire, her long brown hair singed from her head, now bald and burned." he said.

In another attack, Serbian war criminal Milan Lukic and other members of the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor lined up seven Bosnian civilians beside the River Drina, which cuts through Visegrad, and shot them in the back with semiautomatic gunfire, Groome said. Two of the men survived by falling into the river and playing dead. They also will testify at the trial.

Serbian war criminal Milan Lukic was arrested in August 2005 in Argentina and sent for trial in The Hague.

His accomplice,Serbian war criminal Mitar Vasiljevic, was convicted by the tribunal in 2004 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The tribunal had planned to send both Serbian war criminals to face the justice in Bosnia as a way of speeding up proceedings at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which is under pressure to finish all trials and appeals and close its doors by 2010.

However, Serbian war criminal Milan Lukic successfully appealed against having his case transferred to Bosnia and judges then decided to try both Serbian war criminals together in The Hague so witnesses would not have to testify twice.
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UN APPEALS COURT ACQUITS BOSNIAN HERO NASER ORIC OF ALL WAR CRIMES CHARGES

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands (July 3,2008) - A U.N. appeals court today overturned the war crimes conviction of Bosnian war hero Naser Oric,the commander of the Bosnian Army in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica,during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

Oric,41,had been convicted in 2006 of failing to prevent subordinates from killing six genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's soldiers captured and held by the Bosnian Army in 1992 and 1993 in Srebrenica.

However,judges gave him a lenient two-year sentence and ordered his immediate release because of time spent in custody.

But appeals judges went even further, overturning both convictions because the original trial failed to establish that Oric had control over Bosnian forces responsible for the killings of six captured genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's soldiers.

"The appeals chamber reverses Naser Oric's conviction," said judge Wolfgang Schomburg of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, (ICTY) based in The Hague.

The court emphasized that "proof that crimes have occurred is not sufficient to sustain a conviction of an individual for these crimes."

The court criticised the fact that the perpetrators then had not been sufficiently identified. So it could not be proven whether they had in fact been under Oric's command.

Oric stared ahead without showing any emotion as the judgment was read and then bowed briefly to judges before sitting down. Outside court, he hugged friends and his lawyer before walking out the front door a free man.

"Of course I am very happy," he said.

His lawyer, Vasvija Vidovic, said the acquittal was no surprise.

"Anyone who followed the trial could expect the result that he is not guilty," she said.

Oric said he was not bitter about spending nearly three years in pretrial custody, only to ultimately be found not guilty on all charges. "It was my destiny," Oric said.

Oric led the heroic defense of the Srebrenica enclave against attacks from the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's forces from early in the war. In 1995, the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's forces stormed a U.N.-declared "safe haven" in Srebrenica and mass murdered some 10,000 Bosnian civilians,which was Europe's worst civilian massacre since World War II.

Oric defended the actions of all Bosnian soldiers in the enclave, saying they were in a desperate situation.

"I don't think they really committed crimes," he said outside court. "We were under siege. We were just fighting to survive and fighting for our lives."

One of the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's commanders,Serbian war criminal Radoslav Krstic, has already been sentenced to 35 years after a conviction on genocide charges.

The commander of the genocidal paramilitary fascist forces of the Serbians living in Bosnia (VRS), Ratko Mladic - also charged with genocide for the Srebrenica mass murders - is believed to be hiding in the genocidal Serbia.

Munira Subasic, head of the Mothers of Srebrenica Association, said Oric's innocence was obvious from the start.

"He was himself the victim of genocide" as 22 members of his family members had been murdered by Serbs, Subasic said.

"The fact that the court even indicted him for war crimes made us all believe it had become unjust."

In March 1995 Naser Orić was awarded the "Golden Lily", the highest award given by the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Command of the Bosnian Army.


Bosnian war hero Naser Oric (R) and his lawyer Vasvija Vidovic sit in the courtroom of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as he waits for the judgement on his appeal in The Hague July 3, 2008. Oric, wartime commander of Srebrenica, was acquitted of all war crimes charges including the killings of six genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's soldiers captured and held by the Bosnian Army in 1992 and 1993 in Srebrenica.


Bosnian war hero Naser Oric, right, and his lawyer Vasvija Vidovic, left, are seen in the courtroom of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday July 3, 2008. A U.N. appeals court has overturned the war crimes conviction of Oric and acquitted him of all war crimes charges including the killings of six genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's soldiers captured and held by the Bosnian Army in 1992 and 1993 in Srebrenica.


Bosnian war hero Naser Oric smiles as he leaves the ICTY building after his release in the Hague July 3 2008. The U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Thursday overturned the conviction of the commander of the Bosnian Army in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica,during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.


Bosnian war hero Naser Oric, the former commander of the Bosnian Army in Srebrenica, is photographed near Tuzla in 1995.In March 1995 Naser Orić was awarded the "Golden Lily", the highest award given by the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Command of the Bosnian Army.
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ICTY INVESTIGATOR DEAN MANNING TO TESTIFY BEFORE BOSNIAN STATE COURT AT TRIAL OF 11 SERBIAN WAR CRIMINALS

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (February 22,2008) – At the trial of 11 Serbian war criminals,former members of the genocidal paramilitary forces of the Serbians living in Bosnia (VRS),charged with genocide before the Bosnian State Court, a discussion was held yesterday on a number of procedural issues, as well as on the witnesses who will appear at the Court and those who have refused to testify.

The Bosnian State Prosecutor charges the 11 Serbian war criminals with the mass murder of around 1,000 Bosnian civilians in the eastern Bosnian village of Kravica on July 13,1995.

It was announced that International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) investigator Dean Manning, who lives in Australia, might be examined on March 12, at midnight,due to the time difference between Bosnia and Australia.

The Defence teams of the 11 indictees charged with genocide committed in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia,are due to cross-examine Manning, after the Bosnian State Prosecutor has filed a transcript of his testimony at the trial of a convicted Serbian war criminal Vidoje Blagojevic, who was sentenced by the ICTY to 15 years' imprisonment for crimes committed in Srebrenica.

"The Australian legal authorities are willing to help us and facilitate a video-conference within their working hours. The time difference is ten hours, and the only way to make this happen is to begin the examination at midnight," Trial Chamber Chairman Hilmo Vucinic said, adding that he will attempt to establish the video-link at "a more adequate time".

The Defence attorneys did not have any problems with "examining this witness at midnight", as his testimony is "in the interest of the Defence".

Following Manning's examination, investigators Richard Batler and Jean Rere Ruez are due to be cross examined by the end of March.

At this hearing, the Trial Chamber informed the Defence teams that two ICTY convicts who are serving their sentences in Norway - Serbian war criminals Dragan Obrenovic, sentenced to 17 years, and Vidoje Blagojevic – have refused to testify in favour of the 11 Serbian war criminals.

"Obrenovic is not willing to testify as he is concerned for the safety of his family, while Blagojevic claims he does not know Serbian war criminal Milos Stupar and has no connection with him at all," Judge Vucinic explained.

At the request of Serbian war criminal Milos Stupar's Defence, the Trial Chamber admitted the transcripts and recordings of the testimonies of Zoran 'Pirocanac' Petrovic and Nikola Gajic in The Hague, who "were also not willing to testify".

Petrovic is a journalist who was with the genocidal Serbian aggressor during the attack on Srebrenica on July 11, 1995. The Defence attorneys said that Gajic was "an eyewitness of the events".

The Bosnian State Prosecutor proposed that the statements given by Serbian war criminal Ljubomir Borovcanin to investigators prior to being charged be included as material evidence. Serbian war criminal Ljubomir Borovcanin is currently on trial in The Hague for genocide committed by the Serbian aggressor in Srebrenica.

The Bosnian State Prosecutor Ibro Bulic suggested that Alister Graham, the ICTY investigator who examined Serbian war criminal Ljubomir Borovcanin, be called as a witness to talk about the acceptability of those statements. The Defence teams objected, asking for another chance for cross-examination.

The Prosecution also proposed a list of evidence to refute the Defence's allegations, including a proposal for the examination of two witnesses who would speak about the happenings in Srebrenica of July 13, 1995.

In July 1995 the genocidal Serbian aggressor mass murdered up to 10,000 Bosnian civilians from Srebrenica.

The trial of 11 Serbian war criminals charged with genocide is due to continue before the Bosnian State Court on March 12.
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BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY TO OBTAIN ANOTHER ORIGINAL COPY OF DAYTON PEACE AGREEMENT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (February 21,2008) – A member of the Bosnian Presidency Haris Silajdzic stated in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo at the Presidency session that the members of the Bosnian Presidency discussed the “disappearance” of the original copy of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

It has been stated that translation of the document cannot be made because of the fact that it is missing.

”I will propose that, unless the original document is found, of course to get an original copy from Paris. However, we have not made that decision yet and will consult on the issue further”, Silajdzic stated at a press conference after the session of the Bosnian Presidency.

The Bosnian Presidency also decided that the item of the agenda related to the transfer of the ICTY archives to Bosnia will be discussed at the next session.

Bosnian Presidency member Haris Silajdzic stated that there is a proposal that has been accepted in the consultations by the President of the Bosnian Presidency Zeljko Komsic and himself.

”That proposal is that the ICTY archives are moved to Sarajevo and that the conditions for its maintenance and use are ensured”, Silajdzic said.
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ICTY RELEASES FIVE CROATIAN WAR CRIMINALS FROM CUSTODY

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands (February 21,2008) - Five former leaders of the fascist Croatian creature in Bosnia "the HB", who are currently on trial in The Hague, have been granted release from custody.

Croatian war criminals Jadranko Prilic, Bruno Stojic, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoje Petkovic and Valentin Ćoric will be on provisional release from today,Thursday February 21, until May 4.

All five Croatian war criminals were indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for crimes committed against the Bosnian civilians,during the Croatian aggression against Bosnia in 1992 and 1993 on the territory of Prozor, Gornji Vakuf, Jablanica, Mostar, Ljubuski, Capljina and Vares.

The five are being allowed to wait for the beginning of the Defence process at liberty. Still, by this decision, they will have to appear at the ICTY on March 17 and 26, and April 21 during pre-Defence conferences.

The ICTY has also ruled that all five must stay in Croatia, where the government has agreed to provide necessary security measures and ensure the indictees' return to The Hague.

The trial started on April 26, 2006, with the Prosecution case closing on February 6, 2008. The Defence's case is set to start on May 5, 2008.
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