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July 6, 2004 PRESS RELEASE SUBJECT: Ashdown Attacks Democracy in Republika Srpska Contact: Andy Verich 202-463-4757 WASHINGTON, DC � The Serbian Unity Congress (SUC) strongly proteststhe recent wholesale dismissal of 60 high officials of the Republika Srpska government - including Speaker of the Parliament Dr. Kalinic and Minister of the Interior Djeric - by the international High Representative (OHR) for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Paddy Ashdown. T hese draconian measures based on unsubstantiated claims represent yet another - though stronger than ever before - attack on democracy in Bosnia- Herzegovina and its very foundations stemming from the Dayton-Paris accords. HR Ashdown's attempts to effectively destroy the Bosnian Serb state entity represent an unacceptable revision of the carefully balanced political solutions built into the Dayton agreement, as much as a dangerous security gaff in present realities of ongoing global war on terror and the relationship of Bosnia- Herzegovina to it. I n a broader sense, the SUC strongly supports the principles of truth, justice and reconciliation that were behind the creation of the ICTY, and ICC in general. However, these principles - as well as the actual bodies tasked with implementing them - are continuously being compromised by the blatant application of double standards, exemplified by the latest move of the OHR. Only genuine even-handedness can achieve these goals in a real and sustainable way --END |
