Belgrade accuses war crimes court of bias against Serbs
November 29, 2012 01:56 PM
Serbia's new president Tomislav Nikolic gestures as he arrives at the
parliament building to take his oath of office in Belgrade May 31, 2012.
(REUTERS/Marko Djurica)
BELGRADE: Serbian President <javascript:void(0)> Tomislav Nikolic angrily
accused the UN war crimes tribunal of bias against Serbs after the acquittal
Thursday of former <javascript:void(0)> Kosovo prime minister
<javascript:void(0)> Ramush Haradinaj on charges of murder and torture during
the 1990s war.
"The tribunal, apparently created outside international law, was set up to try
the Serbian people," Nikolic said in a statement. "Nobody will be convicted for
the terrible crimes against Kosovo Serbs."
The <javascript:void(0)> International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
<javascript:void(0)> Yugoslavia (ICTY) in <javascript:void(0)> The Hague
acquitted Haradinaj and two others on charges of murdering and torturing Serbs
and non-Albanians during Kosovo's 1998-99 war for independence from Belgrade.
The verdict was issued less then two weeks after the ICTY cleared two Croatian
generals, Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, of war crimes against Serbs during
the 1991-1995 war in Croatia in a verdict that also infuriated Belgrade.
Thursday's ruling is "a severe blow to international justice and justice in
general. It is a defeat of the international mission in Kosovo," said Serbian
government spokesman Milivoje Mihajlovic, saying the mission failed to protect
witnesses in the case.
"The Hague tribunal has legalised mafia rule in Kosovo, above all, the omerta,
the law of silence which still prevails and is stronger than any crime," he
told AFP, referring to alleged witness intimidation during the Haradinaj trial.
Nikolic said the ruling would complicate EU-mediated dialogue aimed at
normalising relations between <javascript:void(0)> Belgrade and Pristina,
which unilaterally proclaimed independence for ethnic-Albanian dominated Kosovo
in 2008.
Among ethnic Serbs on trial at the ICTY are Bosnian Serb wartime political and
army chiefs Radovan Karadzic and <javascript:void(0)> Ratko Mladic while
Serbian strongman <javascript:void(0)> Slobodan Milosevic died in March 2006
during his trial for war crimes committed during the bloody breakup of the
former Yugoslavia.
Six top former Serbian military and police officials have been sentenced for
war crimes during the Kosovo conflict between ethnic Albanian separatist
guerrillas and Belgrade security forces under Milosevic's command.
No high-ranking official from any other ethnic communities has been sentenced
for crimes against the Serbs during the Balkans wars.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2012/Nov-29/196541-belgrade-accuses-war-crimes-court-of-bias-against-serbs.ashx
