This article was originally published on Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso on June 16, 2011, by Andrea Rossini.
On Monday the 6
th of June, in presenting his periodical report to the United Nations Security Council, Serge Brammertz, the prosecutor for The Hague’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), thanked the Serbian authorities for
Ratko Mladic’s arrest. “
Serbia has met one of its key obligations towards the Tribunal and simultaneously acknowledged the rule of law as a central building block for its future”. Brammertz then added: “We want the remaining ICTY fugitive – Goran Hadzic – apprehended without further delay”.
According to the prosecutor, “Serbia now has an important opportunity to help the public understand why Ratko Mladic has been arrested and why justice demands that he stand trial”. Indeed, The Hague appears to be more and more aware of the different reactions to the trials and how these are welcomed in the Countries of the region. With regards to Croatia and the recent decision in the Gotovina case, Brammertz declared it “unfortunate that in the aftermath of the judgment, the highest [Croatian] state officials failed to comment objectively on the outcome of the case”.
Concerning
Bosnia and Herzegovina, the prosecutor voiced great worry for the recent initiatives aimed to weaken the work of the State Court and Prosecutor’s Office, making a clear hint to the referendum on these institutions proposed by the Bosnian Serbs. He then concluded urging the region’s various State Prosecutions to collaborate on war crimes issues.
Mission accomplished? Read the rest on
OBC.
