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Russia questions Hague objectivity 27 July 2008 | 12:37 | Source: Tanjug, Vecernje novosti BELGRADE -- The former Russian ambassador to Serbia says Russia is uncertain whether Radovan Karadžic’s Hague trial will be objective. Aleksandr Alexeyev told daily Vecernje Novosti that the Hague Tribunal was politicized and that it was being used as an instrument of pressure, which was why Moscow insisted on its closure by 2010. “Were we sure that the trial would be objective, we would not have warned that the Tribunal needed to be depoliticized,” said the former ambassador, who is now head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Fourth European Department, effectively the head of Russian diplomacy for the Balkans. Stating that the Hague’s work was such that it “frequently became a prisoner of political games,” he pointed to the amount of Serbs indicted compared to those of the other sides. “Take the average sentences issued to Serbs and the rest. What happened to Haradinaj and Oric? What kind of objectivity is that?” Alexeyev noted. “That’s why we stress that the Tribunal should address what a court should be addressing. In all our statements, we have said that the Tribunal’s work has been politicized. That’s why we believe that its work should be brought to an end,” said the diplomat. He pointed out that the Hague Tribunal was created at a time when the legal system in the former Yugoslavia was not functioning, but that the states now had everything in place for trials to be held there. Asked whether the Tribunal’s work would finish by 2010, as Russia insists, Alexeyev responded with a question of his own: “What do you think?” adding that it was “undeniable that the court was being used as a political instrument.” __._,_.___
