Butcher, Naser Oric, ("Oric, as blood-thirsty a warrior as ever crossed a
battlefield.......") escapes justice thanks to The Hague. War criminals, such
as Hashim Thaci and Agim Ceku, must be laughing in our faces.
Bill Schiller report on Naser Oric: Toronto Star:
<http://www.srebrenica-report.com/Oric2.htm>
http://www.srebrenica-report.com/Oric2.htm
"I met him in January, 1994, in his own home in Serb-surrounded Srebrenica.
"On a cold and snowy night, I sat in his living room watching a shocking video
version of what might have been called Nasir Oric's Greatest Hits. There were
burning houses, dead bodies, severed heads, and people fleeing. Oric grinned
throughout, admiring his handiwork. "We ambushed them," he said when a number
of dead Serbs appeared on the screen."
Also, please read my: <http://www.antiwar.com/orig/jatras3.html>
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/jatras3.html 'Srebrenica' - Code Word to Silence
Critics of US Policy in the Balkans."
Stella
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<http://www.csees.net/?page=news&news_id=67969&country_id>
http://www.csees.net/?page=news&news_id=67969&country_id=
Hague Acquits Srebrenica Bosnian Army Chief
03 July 2008 Sarajevo _ The commander of Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) forces in
Srebrenica, Naser Oric, has had his conviction for war crimes overturned by the
The Hague Tribunal.
The Appeals Chamber acquitted Naser Oric, a former commander of Army of Bosnia
and Herzegovina in Srebrenica, of crimes during 1992 and 1993 because judges
ruled the first trial failed to prove he had control over the men.
On 30 June 2006, the first instance Trail Chamber found Oric guilty of "failing
to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent the murder and cruel
treatment of a number of Bosnian Serbs held at the Srebrenica Police Station
and a building behind the Srebrenica municipal building in the period between
27 December 1992 and 20 March 1993."
It sentenced Oric to two years' imprisonment.
Both the Prosecution and the Defence appealed the judgment.
None of the Prosecution’s grounds of appeal was allowed.
The Appeals Chamber found that the Trial Chamber failed to make all of the
findings necessary to convict a person for command responsibility.
The Chamber emphasised that International Tribunal has to decide solely "based
on the evidence brought before it by the parties." The Appeals Chamber asked
the Prosecution whether it could point to additional evidence but they failed
to do so.
The Appeals Chamber, like the Trial Chamber, had no doubt that grave crimes
were committed against Serbs in Srebrenica between September 1992 and March
1993, but they conculded, the "proof that crimes have occurred is not
sufficient to sustain a conviction of an individual of these crimes."
“Criminal proceedings require evidence establishing beyond reasonable doubt
that the accused is individually responsible for a crime before a conviction
can be entered,” the Appeals Chamber found.
According to the indictement, between 24 September 1992 and 20 March 1993,
members of the Military Police of the municipality of Srebrenica "under the
control of Naser Oric" detained Serb individuals in Srebrenica. A number of
detainees were "subjected to serious abuse and injury and some were beaten to
death."
The Prosecution charged Naser Oric, and the first instance Chamber found him
guilty, for failing to "discharge his duty as a superior to take necessary and
reasonable measures to prevent the crimes of murder and cruel treatment."
"The Prosecution could not point to any evidence, be it additional evidence or
evidence on the trial record, supporting its allegations that Naser Oric's
subordinates incurred criminal responsibility and that he knew or had reason to
know that they aided and abetted crimes against the detained Serbs," concludes
the Appeals Chamber.
The Hague Tribunal unveiled the indictment against Oric on March 28, 2003. He
voluntarily surrendered and went to the Tribunal’s detention unit on April
11. The trial started on October 6, 2004 and ended in April 10 this year.
As stated in the opening remarks, the prosecution wanted to prove that Oric
“turned from a charismatic twenty-five-year-old Srebrenica commander into a
master of war who was drunken on power.”
They also said they would prove that Oric planned the expulsion of Serbs from
the territory of Srebrenica. The Trial chamber did not accept this.
Naser Oric, who is the only member of the Bosnian Army from Srebrenica who is
charged by the Tribunal, was present in The Hague during the announcement.
This report was compiled by BIRN’s Justice Report. Visit the Justice Report
website here: <http://www.bim.ba/en/122/10/> http://www.bim.ba/en/122/10/
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