EDITORIAL: The Colonel THE reasoning of the Bulgarian courts in deciding to set free Colonel Cedomir Brankovic, the former Yugoslav officer alleged by Croatia to have committed war crimes, will no doubt be studied with great interest, especially by those seeking effective prosecution of war criminals. The courts held that as part of an official delegation being received by the Bulgarian Government, Brankovic had diplomatic immunity from arrest. It appears that all Bulgaria could have done to have avoided being caught in the middle of this imbroglio was to have properly checked in advance the names of the delegation, and signalled that Brankovic was persona non grata in this country. However, Bulgaria’s embarrassment is not the core issue. The core issue is whether international conventions and law are adequate to performing the key role of bringing alleged war criminals to trial, while at the same time not laying the time-honoured conventions of diplomatic immunity open to abuse. Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry held that the fact that Brankovic was wanted for crimes against humanity overrode any convention that might be viewed as conferring immunity on him. This latter view is one that many might support, and it is disappointing that the conventions in question – which date from the 1960s, a time when war crimes could hardly have been said to have been unheard of – did not make provision for an eventuality of the kind that involved Brankovic. It would be as well for the eminent jurists of the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court to be asked to consider the question of under which circumstances a suspect could be held not to have immunity. This having been done, all relevant laws and conventions should be revised accordingly, and the courts of all signatory countries duly briefed to follow the precepts agreed on. Neither this country, nor this region, nor the world can afford another Brankovic case.
---------------------------------------------- Freeing the colonel Ivan Vatahov Serbian Colonel and alleged war criminal Cedomir Brankovic will not be detained in Bulgaria, the Sofia Appellate Court (SAC) ruled on May 3. The decision confirmed an earlier ruling by the Sofia City Court (SCC) that released the colonel from police custody. Brankovic, who was part of a Serbia-Montenegro military delegation visiting Bulgaria, was arrested at a Sofia hotel on April 26 on the basis of an Interpol warrant (“red bulletin”) issued at the request of Croatia, where he had been indicted for alleged war crimes committed in 1991 as commander of a Yugoslav army battalion fighting on the Croatian Serbs’ side. Brankovic is alleged to have been connected to attacks in the area around the town of Novska in August 1991, which led to the deaths of 21 civilians. He has also been charged with robbing and torching of Roman Catholic churches and Croatian homes and property in villages in the area. The SCC ordered the release of Brankovic on April 28, saying that he was a member of an official delegation and his name was on a list the Bulgarian state approved prior to the visit. The court said he had diplomatic immunity and could not be detained in this country. The presiding judge said that Brankovic should have been warned in advance that he was “persona non grata” in Bulgaria. Before the May 3 hearing, Brankovic remained at the Serbia-Montenegro embassy in Sofia awaiting the appellate court decision. The SAC said on May 3 that its only option was to confirm the SCC decision. It gave the same reasons for ruling that Brankovic should be released. The SAC ruling said that Brankovic’s status in Bulgaria was defined by the Special Missions Convention, in terms of which, as a member of a military delegation, the Serbian officer could not be detained temporarily or permanently. No extradition procedures could be initiated against him and he could not be prevented from leaving the country by any Bulgarian state authority. The ruling of the SAC is not subject to appeal. “As long as the ‘red bulletin’ on Brankovic is effective Bulgaria will keep on fulfilling its commitments,” Interior Ministry chief secretary General Boiko Borissov said on April 29. Such “bulletins” are issued by Interpol and seek the arrest and extradition of wanted persons on the basis of a previously issued arrest warrant. Bulgaria should not be involved in the matter, Borissov said. He said that it was a matter between Serbia and Croatia. Faxes confirming the request for Brankovic’s arrest were received at the Interior Ministry several times after the Colonel’s detention. “The more we are talking the more we involve the country in a controversy. The responsibility rests with the Serbs who sent him without making the relevant checks,” Borissov said. On May 1, the office of President Georgi Purvanov received a letter from his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic. Tadic expressed hope that a favourable solution would be found in the case. In response, Purvanov said he was convinced that the SAC’s judgment would conform to the principles and requirements of international law. However, the case was turned into a real challenge for Bulgarian institutions, which issued contradictory messages. According to an official statement by the Foreign Ministry in Sofia, no immunity could apply to a person wanted for crimes against humanity, as was the case with Brankovic. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gergana Gruncharova said no international convention could protect the Serbian officer. “Brankovic is not within the scope of the Special Missions Convention, as the Serbian military delegation had no such status,” she said. On being informed that the SAC had ruled that Brankovic could not be detained, Borissov said that the Interior Ministry would abide by the ruling. He declined further comment. http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/freeing-the-colonel/id_11284/catid_5 Serbian News Network - SNN [email protected] http://www.antic.org/
