www.srna.co.yu
Serbian Press Agency SRNA, Bijeljina
August 4, 2008
Karadzic's testimony "risky" for Western countries
THE HAGUE - Former spokeswoman of the Hague tribunal's prosecutor's office
Florence Hartmann stated that she "would have to listen carefully to what
Radovan Karadzic had to say in the courtroom" - regarding the fall of
Srebrenica and his possible "deal" with US diplomat Richard Holbrooke.
"Now that Karadzic has finally been arrested, he can tell us much about the
secret agreements that led to the fall of Srebrenica. His testimony is a
great risk for the great Western powers. So far there has not been firm
evidence that the Western countries surrendered Srebrenica in exchange for
Serb cooperation in the peace process. But if anyone knows anything about
such deals, then it would be Karadzic," said Hartmann for the Dutch weekly
Frei Nederland.
According to SRNA's correspondent in The Hague, Hartmann said that "so far
no firm evidence has been found" of the existence of a Karadzic-Holbrooke
agreement "immunity in exchange for peace". Holbrooke himself has repeatedly
denied it, including after the publication of Florence Hartmann's book,
Peace and Punishment, in September last year.
"Now Karadzic can tell us in person what happened. Of course, everything he
says will have to checked, because he frequently lied. That does not mean
that everything he says is nonsense. When Karadzic appears in the courtroom
later on, we will have to listen carefully to what he has to say," said
Florence Hartmann.
She aid that "there are people who think that Karadzic was not arrested
earlier simply because he hid well".
"But one does not take a new identity; one receives it. During all this time
the Serbian secret service knew exactly where he was. Whether he was to be
arrested or not was only a question of political will. For a long time, it
did not exist, either in Serbia or in the great Western countries," said
Hartmann.
She added that the US and the EU always officially demanded Serbia's
cooperation in the arrest of Karadzic and Mladic but that in reality it was
not that important to any of them.
"At one point the CIA even told Serb police in Bosnia-Herzegovina to stop
following the Karadzic family," emphasized Hartmann.
She said that on several occasions the Tribunal's investigating team gave
the Americans [sic] Karadzic's exact location but they did nothing to follow
up.
"On one occasion when we told the Americans that he was in Foca, they said,
'That's impossible; he's in Belgrade.' Those same Americans have been
constantly repeated for years that they did not know where he was," said
Hartmann.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
