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ICTY PROSECUTORS MUST NOT MAKE SAME MISTAKES IN KARADZIC TRIAL
PHOTO: Serge Brammertz, Chief United Nations’ Prosecutor of the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
“The same legal team which led the prosecution in the [Momcilo] Krajisnik case is in charge of prosecuting [Radovan] Karadzic, too, and unless they change their strategy, they could repeat the same mistakes.”
KRAJISNIK APPEAL MAY PRESENT PROBLEMS FOR KARADZIC PROSECUTORS
Appeals verdict in Momcilo Krajisnik case suggests prosecution could have trouble proving charges against former Bosnian Serb president.
By Edina Becirevic in Sarajevo
Last week’s appeals judgement against Momcilo Krajisnik surprised many by reducing the sentence awarded and clouding the trail of responsibility for atrocities committed during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia and Hercegovina.
On March 17, appeals judges at the Hague tribunal confirmed the conviction of former president of the Bosnian Serb assembly for the persecution of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats in 32 Bosnian municipalities through acts of deportation and forcible transfer of the non-Serb population out of Bosnia.
However, they reduced his prison sentence by seven years, after reversing convictions against him for murder, extermination and persecutions (through crimes other than deportation and forcible transfer).
The reasoning of the final verdict yet again highlights key weaknesses of the system and practice of the Hague tribunal.
It could also have implications for the genocide case of the highest-profile indictee currently in custody – former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic.
In the trial chamber judgement of September 27, 2006, Krajisnik was sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment after judges convicted him of killing some 3,000 non-Serbs and forcibly removing another 100,000 non-Serbs from large swathes of Bosnia in 1991 and 1992.
Trial judges acquitted him of genocide, as while they found evidence that this crime had been committed, they did not establish that Krajisnik had shown the criminal intent necessary to secure a conviction. (Page 305 of the first-instance judgment is available at: www.icty.org/x/cases/krajisnik/tjug/en/kra-jud060927e.pdf)
By not appealing the genocide acquittal, prosecutors showed they accepted their own failure to prove that Krajisnik intended to commit genocide in Bosnia.
The appeals chamber ruling highlights another shortcoming of the prosecution case against Krajisnik – the attempt to establish the accused’s responsibility for crimes through use of the “joint criminal enterprise” doctrine.
This is legal doctrine under which members of a group are considered to be part of a conspiracy and are held responsible for each other’s criminal acts.
One problem with its use in the Krajisnik case seems to be that it wasn’t clearly established during the trial at what point the members of the joint criminal enterprise intended to commit certain crimes.
Appeals judges confirmed the trial chamber verdict that the accused “shared the intent” to commit deportation, forcible transfer and persecution “from the beginning of the joint criminal enterprise”.
Yet they found that trial judges did not clearly set out in their judgement at what point the Bosnian Serb leaders conspired to commit murder, extermination and persecution (excluding acts of deportation and forcible transfer) and so convictions against Krajisnik on these charges were overturned.
“..The Appeals Chamber is not able to conclude with the necessary preciseness how and at which point in time the common objective of the joint criminal enterprise included the expanded crimes [of murder, extermination and persecution] and, consequently, on what basis the Trial Chamber imputed those expanded crimes to Krajisnik,” stated the appeals judgement.
Another problem seems to stem from the fact that prosecutors failed to name all members of the joint criminal enterprise in the indictment.
Appeals judges accepted the argument submitted by the defence that trial judges had not clearly established who prosecutors were referring to when they mentioned lower-level participants, including paramilitaries and politicians.
In Krajisnik’s indictment, prosecutors identified a diverse group of people as taking part in the same joint criminal enterprise as the accused.
The list included Bosnian Serbian politicians Biljana Plavsic, Radovan Karadzic, Radoslav Brdjanin and Nikola Koljevic; Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, Serbian paramilitary leader Zeljko Raznjatovic (aka “Arkan”); as well as Bosnian Serb generals Ratko Mladic and Momir Talic.
While other members are not individually named, the indictment states that “numerous individuals participated”.
The indictment vaguely alludes to these individuals – implicating members of the Bosnian Serb leadership, the Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, leadership, the Yugoslav army, the Bosnian Serb army, police and territorial defence, the Serbian and Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces and volunteer units, and military and political figures from the former Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro.
But by not specifying clearly who all the individual members of the joint criminal enterprise were, prosecutors made it harder to prove that Krajisnik was responsible for their crimes.
A further flaw with prosecution’s attempts to prove Krajisnik’s participation in a joint criminal enterprise, as well as his responsibility for genocide, was the limited time covered by his indictment, which spans only the period from July 1, 1991, to December 30, 1992.
It is hard to follow the logic of the prosecution for restricting the indictment to these 18 months, as he remained president of the Bosnian Serb assembly for the entire period of the 1992-95 war.
He was therefore a key member of the Bosnian Serb leadership at the time of the Srebrenica massacre of July 1995, which both the Hague tribunal and the International Court of Justice, ICJ, have found to have been genocide.
By limiting their case to this narrow window, prosecutors made it harder to demonstrate the extent of the criminal plan in which Krajisnik took part.
This can be illustrated further by comparing the case to that of Milosevic.
Prosecutors in the Milosevic case attempted to prove that the accused participated in a joint criminal enterprise and possessed genocidal intent by demonstrating his involvement in an alleged plan drawn up at the Bosnian Serb assembly on May 12, 1992.
They argued that the so-called Six Strategic Objectives of the Serbian People set out the Bosnian Serb leadership’s plan to separate Serbs from Bosnia’s Bosniak and Croat communities by carving up the country.
According to the prosecution, they defined the leaders’ military objectives in the war – to create an ethnically pure Republika Srpska which would later become part of a Greater Serbia – and were clearly pursued until the conflict ended.
When presenting their case, the prosecutors of Milosevic clearly linked the six strategic goals to crimes committed on the ground throughout the war, with an indictment covering a period from August 1, 1991, to “at least” December 31, 1995.
They argued that the strategic goals were a clear manifestation “that a plan existed to remove non-Serbs from power in all targeted areas and to essentially remove non-Serbs physically from targeted parts of Bosnia, regardless of whether they formed the ethnic majority or not”.
A key argument in their case was that this document could be seen as a vehicle “employed by the Bosnian Serb leadership to implement a genocidal plan”.
Although Milosevic died while in detention in March 2006, before a judgement was passed in his trial, judges found following the presentation of the prosecution case that there was enough evidence on all charges in the indictment to proceed with the case.
Perhaps if prosecutors had charged Krajisnik for crimes committed throughout the entire war – and related his actions to the pursuit of these strategic goals – they would have managed to prove his responsibility for more atrocities, including genocide.
The same legal team which led the prosecution in the Krajisnik case is in charge of prosecuting Karadzic, too, and unless they change their strategy, they could repeat the same mistakes.
The amended Karadzic indictment is an improvement on the last version, updated in April 2000, in which he was not accused of taking part in a joint criminal enterprise at all.
Introducing the joint criminal enterprise doctrine should give prosecutors the opportunity to demonstrate the full extent of the Bosnian Serb leadership’s role in the war, and perhaps prove a link to Belgrade, thus giving a clearer picture of what went on in the conflict.
Furthermore, the time-frame of the Karadzic indictment – which covers the entire 1992-95 period – will allow prosecutors to draw on more evidence to support charges in the indictment.
But a glance at the Karadzic indictment would suggest that prosecutors could learn more from their experience of prosecuting Krajisnik.
When setting out the joint criminal enterprise in the Karadzic indictment, they have failed to include certain key figures, who acted in concert with the Bosnian Serb leadership during the war.
In Karadzic’s indictment, the joint criminal enterprise is defined with the same vagueness that ultimately hamstrung the prosecution in the Krajisnik case.
It states that members of the joint criminal enterprise included, “members of the Bosnian Serb leadership; members of SDS and Bosnian Serb government bodies at the republic, regional, municipal, and local levels, including Crisis Staffs, War Presidencies, and War Commissions”.
To overcome this vagueness, during the presentation of their case, prosecutors must attempt to show a link between Karadzic and the particular individuals who implemented the criminal plan he is accused of orchestrating.
It is very likely that Karadzic’s defence will be based on the notion that Milosevic was responsible for everything and the accused was only a cog in the machine.
Prosecutors must therefore use the evidence of the six strategic goals adopted by the Bosnian Serb parliament at the start of the war to demonstrate evidence of both a joint criminal enterprise and of genocidal intent.
Edina Becirevic is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Criminal Justice Science, University of Sarajevo. Her OP/ED comment was published by IWPR (Institute for War & Peace Reporting) on March 27, 2009.
JEWS AND BOSNIAN MUSLIMS HAVE JOINT EXPERIENCE IN PERSECUTION AND GENOCIDE IN EUROPE
The gathering is about cultural and educational initiative for promotion of the Jewish-Muslim dialogue based upon mutual acquaintance, respect and refusal to deny and diminish Holocaust. Hosted by the UNESCO, former President of France Jacques Chirac, Prince El-Hassan bin Talaal of Jordan, former President of Indonesia Abdurrahman Wahid and former German Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder, project “Aladdin” aims to assist in Muslim-Jewish dialogue so as to remove many a prejudice and stereotype which burden the Muslim-Jewish relations in the world.
“The call of conscience”
A statement, titled “The Call of Conscience”, was adopted to denote the principle of the project:
We, women and men in public life, historians, intellectuals and people of faith have gathered to announce that defence of values of justice and brotherhood must overcome all obstacles on the way to victory over intolerance, racism and confrontation.
We are witnesses to daily increase in hatred and violence which deepen the abyss of misunderstanding.
That has a particular impact upon the current relations between Muslims and Jews who have, for centuries in Persia, in the Middle Ages of Europe, in Northern Africa and in the Uthmaniyyah Empire, lived in relative harmony.
“Israelis and Palestinians have the right to their own states”
Facing the lack of knowledge, the prejudices and competing sentiments which we all reject, we believe in acquainting ourselves of one-another, and in the primacy of History.
Therefore we affirm, above all political views, our decisiveness to defend the historic truth as there is no peace based upon lies. The Holocaust is a historical fact: a genocide in which some six Million European Jews perished.
Its magnanimity is universal, as values of dignity and respect of human being is what the Nazi Germany and its European allies sought to destroy. Denial of that crime against humanity is not only an affront to the memories of the victims but an affront to the very idea of civilization. Therefore we believe that learning about this tragedy is a cause for all who have the heart and will to prevent future genocides.
We call upon all people of conscience in the world to work with us
We declare, together, our mutual wish to promote truthful, open and brotherly dialogue.
In that spirit we gathered in this project “Aladdin”. We call upon all people of conscience in the world to work with us in this joint venture of mutual acquaintance, respect and peace.
Unite in the struggle against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia
The importance of this is augmented because of the fact that I come from Bosnia and Herzegovina where, at the end of the 20-th century, a genocide was perpetrated upon Muslims in Europe, several decades after the Holocaust. This is, therefore, the right opportunity and place for me to remind all that Muslims and Jews have reasons to gather around a joint project such as this one and unite in the struggle against anti-Semitism and Islam-phobia, which phobia has gathered speed of recent.
July 11th – the day of remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide
It is for that reason that we respect the fact that the European Parliament adopted, on January 15, 2009, a resolution to proclaim July 11th as day of remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide and called upon all “people of conscience” to remember, on July 11th, the crime against humanity which was committed on July 11th, 1995, in Srebrenica against Bosnian Muslims and, consequently, we call for all to take an oath that it will never happen again to anybody.
We have committed to develop the Muslim-Jewish cultural dialogue
READ MORE:
1. Serbian Nazi Chetniks Committed Genocide Against Jews, Roma, and Bosniaks in the World War II
2. United States Holocaust Museum: Interview with Hasan Nuhanovic, Srebrenica Genocide Survivor
4. Yom Hashoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day – Let Us Not Forget Jews who Perished in the WWII
5. Our Friends at the United States Holocaust Museum’s Conscience Committee
6. British Holocaust Denier, David Irving, Convicted and Jailed in Austria
DRAGAN JOKIC REFUSES TO TESTIFY, CONVICTED OF CONTEMPT
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has convicted a Bosnian Serb army officer for contempt for refusing to testify against his former comrades, adding four months to the 9-year sentence he is already serving for war crimes. The judgment Friday said Dragan Jokic’s refusal to respond to a summons is a serious offense that strikes at the essence of the notion of justice.
Jokic was convicted in 2005 of aiding and abetting the murder and persecution of Bosniaks during the 1995 assault on the U.N.-declared safe haven of Srebrenica. He is in prison in Austria.
The 51-year-old refused to testify in the case of seven Bosnian Serbs also accused in the Srebrenica genocide, when no less than 8,372 Bosnian Muslims were killed and tens of thousands were displaced during one brutal week of July 1995.
Trial Chamber II today convicted former Bosnian Serb Army officer Dragan Jokić of contempt of the Tribunal for refusing to testify in the case of Popović and others. He was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment.
Jokić was subpoenaed to testify in the case of Popović and others as a Prosecution witness on 31 October and 1 November 2007. However, Jokić refused to testify citing the reasons for his decision in a confidential submission of 31 October 2007. The Chamber ruled his submission did not justify the refusal to testify.
The Trial Chamber considered that there were sufficient grounds to proceed against Jokić for contempt and issued an order in lieu of an indictment on 1 November 2007, declaring that it would prosecute the matter Jokić itself.
Jokić pleaded not guilty to the charge of contempt at his initial appearance on 19 November 2007 and the trial took place on 19 November 2007, 10 December 2007 and 15 December 2008.
“Witnesses summoned by subpoena are under a duty to testify. It is a basic principle of this judicial institution and goes to the heart of the notion of justice. It ensures that the evidence required for the proper administration of justice is available,” Judge Carmel Agius, Presiding, said today in the court.
“[Jokić] made a conscious decision not to testify and understood the consequences of his behaviour,” the judgement read.
In determining the sentence to be imposed on Jokić, Judge Agius said: “The Chamber considers that Jokić committed a serious offence, which goes to the essence of the notion of justice. By his refusal to testify he has deprived the Chamber of relevant evidence and acted against the interests of justice.” Jokić was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment, which will be served consecutively.
Jokić has previously been sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment on 17 January 2005 for aiding and abetting the extermination, murder and persecution of Bosnian Muslim men in Srebrenica in July 1995. His sentence was affirmed by the Appeals Chamber on 9 May 2007. He is currently serving his sentence in Austria.
http://www.icty.org/x/cases/contempt_jokic/tjug/en/090327_summary.pdf
A case information sheet is available at:
http://www.icty.org/x/cases/contempt_jokic/cis/en/cis_jokic_contempt_en.pdf
FATA ORLOVIC: TARGET OF SERB EXTREMISTS WHO BUILT CHURCH IN HER FRONT-YARD
PHOTO of Fata Orlovic, an elderly woman whose front-yard the Serbs built a church illegally. She is a survivor of the Srebrenica genocide and a returnee to Konjevic Polje. For a long time, she has been regularly harrassed, threatened, and demeaned by local Orthodox Serb Christians who called her names, threatened to kill her, and even spit at her. On several occassions, she was beaten up by a local Serb Police officer, Zdravko Uzelac, a man who participated in the 1995 Srebrenica genocide and who murdered a local Bosniak returnee Mustafa Becirovic…
Fata Orlovic, an elderly returnee to Konjevic Polje, has been subjected to a number of beatings by members of the local Serb police force including one – Zdravko Uzelac – who took part in the Srebrenica genocide.
In the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, Zdravko Uzelac participated in the separation of men who were to be massacred and dumped into mass graves. At least 8,372 men were summarily executed and dumped into mass graves, while between 20,000 to 30,000 people were forcibly deported in a mass scale ethnic cleansing. In 2008, Uzelac murdered a Bosniak returnee to Konjevic Polje.
According to Fata Orlovic, Zdravko Uzelac is notorious in Konjevic Polje for his constant harassment of Muslim returnees.
“Last year Uzelac killed Mustafa Becirovic at a gas pump in Konjevic Polje, and yet they still keep him on active police duty, as if he hadn’t killed anyone,” said Fata. “It’s like, he killed a Muslim, so what? In Srebrenica, he participated in the separation and murder of our men. Everybody knows it, we know it, Serbs know it, and foreigners know it. I saw him with my own eyes actively involved in separating the men who were to be murdered in the genocide.”
The pre-war population of Konjevic Polje, a small town located just outside of Srebrenica in the Bratunac municipality, was 100% Bosniak Muslim. During the war Serbs provocatively and unlawfully built an Orthodox church in Fata’s yard and on her land in Konjevic Polje. In spite of a court ruling in summer 2007 finding against the Church and in favor of Fata Orlovic no start has been made on pulling down and rellocating the church.
Na adresu Fate Orlović je iz Osnovnog suda u Srebrenici stigao poziv da u svojstvu okrivljene 14. aprila dođe na “usmeni pretres” po prijavi za navodno kršenje odredbi Zakona o javnom redu i miru RS, koju je protiv nje podnijela Policijska stanica u Bratuncu.
Orlović je već godinama uznemiravana, čak u nekoliko navrata i pretučena, od strane srpskih extremista zbog toga što je zahtjevala da se pravoslavna crkva – koja je bespravno sagrađena u njenom dvorištu – ukloni.
Bratunački policajci prijavili su Fatu Orlović da je 10. septembra prošle godine u devet sati ispred pravoslavne crkve u Konjević-Polju, odnosno u svom dvorištu, “grubo vrijeđala druga lica prijetnjom da će napasti na njihov život i tijelo”, kao i da je “ometala ovlaštena službena lica u njihovom vršenju redovnih poslova i zadataka”.
“Navikla sam na laži policajca Zdravka Uzelca, koji je zadužen da se brine o crkvi u mojoj avliji i da me redovno provocira i vrijeđa. Laž je da sam krenula da napadnem policajca Uzelca, i to makazama, kako on tvrdi. On je tada, čim sam upitala zašto su došli u moju avliju kada smo se godinu ranije dogovorili da više neće biti obreda u crkvi, zgrabio mene za ruku i uvrnuo je na leđa. Od boli mi je pozlilo, mislila sam da mi je ruka slomljena. Pokušao me uvući u policijski auto, ali sam se otela i tek tada sam vidjela makaze na podu, uzela ih u ruke i tako se odbranila od njegovog napada. Pa, cijeli svijet zna da me Uzelac i ranije tukao i vezanu vodio u policiju” – prisjetila se jučer Orlović.
Prema riječima stare nane, Uzelac je upleten u Srebrenički genocid. Orlović kaze da je prošle godine “na benzinskoj pumpi [Uzelac] ubio Mustafu Bećirovića i opet ga drže u službi, kao da čovjeka nije ubio?! K`o vele, ubio je muslimana, šta fali? U Srebrenici je odvajao naše muškarce i ubijao ih. To svi znaju, i naši i njihovi, i ovi stranci. Ja sam ga vidjela ovim očima kako odvaja naše muškarce za ubijanje.”
Ona je upozorila da je njeno strpljenje pri kraju i da je ovo što joj u njenoj vlastitoj kući rade vlast i policija RS bruka za cijelu BiH. Posebno je potcrtala svoju ogorčenost na bošnjačke političare, za koje navodi da “devet godina gledaju kako je Karadžićevi policajci vrijeđaju i tuku, a ništa ne poduzimaju da se slučaj nelegalno izgrađene pravoslavne crkve u njenoj avliji riješi na zakonit način”.
Razgovarao sam s Fatom i žao mi je što se opet nasekirala. Očekujem da dobijem poziv koji je joj je upućen od Osnovnog suda u Srebrenici, kao i prijavu koju je protiv nje podnijela Policijska stanica Bratunac. Naravno da ću nanu Fatu zastupati i u ovom slučaju. Ne mogu vjerovati da joj se iste stvari ponavljaju – izjavio je za “Avaz” advokat Fahrija Karkin.
MOMCILO KRAJISNIK SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS BY U.N. APPEALS CHAMBER
PHOTO: Momcilo Krajisnik, convicted Serb war criminal. The Trial Chamber’s earlier convictions of murder, extermination and persecution – with exception of deportation and forcible transfer – were quashed by the Appeal Chamber judgement.
On 27 September 2006, the Trial Chamber found Krajišnik guilty of persecution, extermination, murder, deportation and forced transfer of non-Serb civilians during the 1992-95 conflict. He was found not guilty of charges of genocide and complicity of genocide. Krajišnik was sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment.
The Trial Chamber found that Krajišnik participated in a joint criminal enterprise whose objective was to ethnically recompose the territories under the control of the Bosnian-Serb Republic by drastically reducing the proportion of non-Serbs through the commission of various crimes. “It held that there was a leadership component of the JCE, based in the Bosnian-Serb capital of Pale, which included Krajišnik, Radovan Karadžić and other Bosnian-Serb leaders; the local component of this JCE was based in the municipalities of the Bosnian-Serb Republic and maintained close links with the Pale-based leadership.”
Appeals were filed by the Prosecution, the Accused – including supplementary legal challenges made by Alan and Nathan Dershowitz, Counsel on the matter of joint criminal enterprise and Amicus Curiae.
The Appeals Chamber dismissed the Accused’s and Amicus Curiae’s submissions that the Trial Chamber violated Krajišnik’s right to a fair trial.
However, parts of Amicus Curiae’s third, fourth and seventh grounds of appeal were granted. The Appeals Chamber accepted that the Trial Chamber failed in part to specify which of the local politicians, militaries, police commanders and paramilitary leaders were members of the joint criminal enterprise. Thus, it could not beyond reasonable doubt conclude that a common objective between them and Krajišnik existed.
The Appeals Chamber reaffirmed the Trial Chamber’s finding that “Krajišnik shared the intent to commit the original crimes of deportation, forcible transfer and persecution based on these crimes from the beginning of the JCE”. However, with respect to the expanded crimes of murder, extermination and persecution (other than that based on deportation and forcible transfer) the Appeals Chamber found that the Trial Chamber failed to identify when those acts became part of the common goal of the joint criminal enterprise.
The Trial Chamber had found that such crimes were added to the joint criminal enterprise after leading members of the joint criminal enterprise were informed of them, yet took no effective measures to prevent their recurrence, and persisted in the implementation of the common objective, thereby coming to intend these expanded crimes.
“The Appeals Chamber notes, however, that the Trial Chamber made only scarce findings, if at all, on these requirements,” the judgement reads. “Neither the Appeals Chamber nor an accused can be required to engage in speculation on the meaning of the Trial Chamber’s findings – or lack thereof – in relation to such a central element of Krajišnik’s individual criminal responsibility as the scope of the common objective of the JCE.”
It therefore quashed Krajišnik’s convictions for expanded crimes of murder, extermination and persecution with the exception of the underlying acts of deportation and forcible transfer.
The Appeals Chamber also found that on many occasions the Trial Chamber failed to find the link between the perpetrators of the original crimes of deportation, forcible transfer and persecution based on these crimes, and the members of the joint criminal enterprise.
The Appeals Chamber dismissed most of the submissions of the Counsel for joint criminal enterprise but granted arguments with respect to the identity of the members of the enterprise, Krajišnik’s responsibility for the expanded crimes, and the lack of findings on a link between the physical perpetrators and the members of the enterprise for some of the original crimes.
Submissions by the Prosecution and the remainder of the Accused’s and Amicus Curiae’s submissions were all dismissed, the tenth ground submitted by Amicus Curiae on cumulative convictions by majority, Judge Güney dissenting.
While the Appeals Chamber noted that the majority of convictions of Momčilo Krajišnik were overturned it held that the gravity of the crimes of persecution, deportation and forcible transfer “requires a severe and proportionate sentence”.
Krajišnik was indicted on 25 February 2000. He was arrested and transferred to the Tribunal on 3 April 2000. Credit will be given for the time already spent in detention since Krajišnik’s arrest.
Since its inception 15 years ago the Tribunal has indicted 161 persons for war crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The proceedings against 117 individuals have been completed. With proceedings ongoing against 42 accused only two indictees remain on the run awaiting arrest – Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić.
English:
http://www.icty.org/x/cases/krajisnik/acjug/en/090317_summary.pdf
A case information sheet can be found at:
http://www.icty.org/x/cases/krajisnik/cis/en/cis_krajisnik_en.pdf
MILENKO KRSTIC, MISS OREGON’S FATHER INVOLVED IN SREBRENICA GENOCIDE
PHOTO OF EVIL: Srebrenica genocide suspect, Milenko Krstic, on left (in glasses), waits in his seat to cheer for his daughter Danijela, now Miss Oregon. Next to him is his wife Branka and their daughter Aleksandra. The photo was taken at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Jan. 24, 2009 during the 2009 Miss American Pageant.
Milenko Krstic (52), the father of Miss Oregon, was an active member of a Bosnian Serb army’s Zvornik brigade. The unit participated in the mass killings of 8,000 to 10,000 unarmed Bosniaks (Muslims) and a forcible deportation at least 25,000 people during the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. Krstic admittedly worked in the headquarters of the Bosnian Serb army, providing logistical support to the unit responsible for terrorizing Muslims in and around Srebrenica and committing genocide in July 1995.
In 1998 Krstic and his family emigrated to the United States. As part of a refugee application, he filled out an I-590 form, which requires applicants to disclose foreign military service. He denied having served in the military “during a sworn, personal interview administered in Belgrade.”
In 1999, he applied to become lawful permanent resident. As part of the application, Krstic filled out another form. This time, I-485 form, also required him to report any prior foreign military service. Krstic again refused to disclose his service in the genocidal army. As a result, he fraudulently obtained a green card.
HE EVEN ADMITTED LYING
FURTHER RESEARCH
Srebrenica genocide suspects in the United States:
1. Nedjo Ikonic – Serb War Criminal Hiding in the United States
2. Suspect Avoids Genocide Charges 3 weeks after Genocide Accountability Act Enacted
3. Phoenix, Arizona – A Mecca for Serb Suspects of Srebrenica Massacre
4. The United States Deports Two Serbs Wanted for Srebrenica Massacre
5. Bosnian Serb Immigrants Failed to Disclose Their Past Service in Genocidal Military
6. Marko Boskic – Srebrenica Genocide Mass Murderer
7. Butcher of Srebrenica Wants His Own Admission Squashed
8. Srebrenica Genocide Gunman, Marko Boskic, Will Not Face Torture Charges
9. Elusive Justice: A Man Who Gunned Down 1,200 Srebrenica Bosniaks
10. Srebrenica Genocide Suspects Give Up Fight, Agree to be Deported to Bosnia
11. More Arrests of Srebrenica Genocide Suspects in the U.S.
12. List of Srebrenica Suspects Getting Away with Genocide
13. Bosnian Serb Deported from the U.S. After Lying on Immigration Paperwork
14. Deported Criminal Convicted for Crimes Against Humanity in Bosnia
15. Search our blog for more information. Look for Google Custom Search Box, it is located on the left-hand side.
SELF-STYLED “EXPERTS” IN DEMONIZING BOSNIAKS
For a long time now, the fictitious “Southeast Europe Expert Team for Fight against Terrorism” has been intentionally spreading incredible lies about Bosnia-Hercegovina and the Bosniaks through public advertising and organizing various kinds of “expert” gatherings. The Bosniaks have been continuously and systematically associated with terrorism, whereas Bosnia-Herzegovina is frequently referred to as an Al-Qa’idah terrorist base and a country that supports terrorist activities worldwide.
Claims about Gaza
Claims have been made that top Bosniak politicians, including the late Alija Izetbegovic, Haris Silajdzic, Hasan Cengic, Semsudin Mehmedovic, and many others had been at the head of all terrorist organizations in Bosnia-Herzegovina. At first, the name of this “expert team” may create the impression among laymen that it is actually a body operating within the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe. But of course, the “expert team” is in no way related to the Pact.
Then what is it about? To all those who over the past few years have been following, at least superficially, the developments in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the region, everything will become clear when they hear the names of Darko Trifunovic, Dzevad Galijasevic, and Domagoj Margetic.
Indeed, they are not just ordinary anti-terrorism experts, although all three of them have for years been falsely presenting themselves as such. At the mention of their names, people usually make a brush-off gesture, inadvertently calling them absolute idiots. Although this remark is not far from the truth, it appears that what the three men are doing is, after all, being taken rather lightly.
Besides the fact that their announcements and statements are being readily accepted by the Serb media, they often find their way to the world’s most respectable media outlets. Thus, the Australian press has recently published a statement by Dzevad Galijasevic that Bosniaks tied to Al-Qa’idah are fighting alongside Hamas in Gaza.
Editors of Australian newspapers, of course, have no clue who Dzevad Galijasevic is. His statement appears authentic to an average reader because it was made by a Bosniak. One should also bear in mind that last year, the team’s mastermind, Darko Trifunovic, was prevented at the last moment from delivering a lecture at a conference on security attended by the interior ministers of EU member countries.
Iranian Interests
Their action strategy is rather simple and well proven. They employ the standard Goebbels method that a lie repeated a hundred times becomes a truth in order to demonize Bosniaks. The compiling of a list of all the lies they have uttered would require at least three editions of this newspaper. However, in order to get a picture of the manner in which this “expert team” operates, some of them will need to be mentioned.
Thus, for example, it has been constantly repeated that the recruitment of terrorists takes place in mosques, and that mostly young people and shahids’ [martyrs] children are being recruited. Further, [they claim] Bosnia-Herzegovina is part of the network of organized international terrorism; the September 11 attacks on the New York Towers were masterminded in Bosnia-Herzegovina; top Bosniak politicians knew of the attacks but failed to notify the United States. It is also claimed that “about 12,000 terrorists possess B-H documents.”
For that reason, Trifunovic, Margetic, and Galijasevic have lately been focusing intensively on the case of Vjekoslav Vukovic, the arrested B&H assistant security minister. In this they have surpassed even themselves by accusing Croatia, besides B&H, of supporting terrorism. They claim that Vukovic is the victim of trumped-up charges, because “his investigations had uncovered the logistics channels and political hierarchy of the B-H terrorist structure. Those channels lead straight to Zagreb and Sarajevo politicians and their ties during the war of the 1990s’.” These “experts” further claim that Tarik Sadovic [B&H security minister] and Tomislav Karamarko [Croatian interior minister] had set Vukovic up. Karamarko is, careful now, an Iranian spy, and his father-in-law Osman Muftic, former Croatian ambassador in Tehran, acts as his liaison.
The trio has devoted part of its activities to the “Iranian threat in the Balkans.” In addition, engaged in promoting Iranian interests, among others, is none other than Croatian President Stjepan Mesic.
Why are Trifunovic, Galijasevic, and Margetic doing so, for whom, for what purpose, and who is funding their “expert team?”
Private Lawsuit
Their goal is clear – to try to vindicate the crimes committed against Bosniaks through demonizing them and constantly emphasizing their “terrorist inclinations.” Thus, the genocide, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing become “legitimate,” as the fight against terrorists. Also, any action against Bosniaks – [whom they refer to as] Islamic terrorists – becomes justified, now and in the future.
Nobody in Bosnia-Herzegovina has thus far reacted to the constantly spread lies. In Croatia it was done immediately, as reported by local media, by Minister Karamarko, who, in pursuance of his duty, filed a lawsuit for spreading fabrications and upsetting propaganda, and announced a private lawsuit for libel.
When the content of what the “experts” are publishing is analysed, it becomes clear that their mentors should be sought among the Serb intelligence and security structures, to which Trifunovic is directly linked. Their work is probably funded from this source. Another source of funding, at least an indirect one, could be the RS [Serb Republic] government, whose Prime Minister Milorad Dodik is advised by Dzevad Galijasevic.
Karadzic’s Defender, Dodik’s Adviser, and Tudjman’s Youth on the Same Mission
Darko Trifunovic is a self-styled expert on Islamic terrorism. After obtaining a fake identity card in Brcko, he worked for the B-H Mission to the United Nations. He is the author of the RS government’s disgraceful report which impudently denied the Srebrenica genocide, claiming that only 110 soldiers were killed in this town.
He also distinguished himself in defending war criminal Radovan Karadzic, and even offered to present the journalists with “documents proving that he is innocent.” Besides denying the Srebrenica genocide, his favourite topic is the “white Al-Qa’idah.”
Dzevad Galijasevic became known across the former Yugoslavia after the notorious “Mosevac” scandal, after which the UDB [State Security Administration] got a faithful servant. After the war, as a member of the Party for B-H, he became mayor of Maglaj, and in Bocinja he “acquired experiences with the mujahidin.” He is an adviser to the RS prime minister, and presents himself as an expert, political scientist, sociologist… He no longer even tries to conceal that he works for the Serb intelligence agencies.
Domagoj Margetic, chairman of the Croatian Youth at the time of Franjo Tudjman, is a person with a pathological urge to expose himself in the media. Neither the Croatian newspapers, nor any of the respectable media outlets publish his articles. Therefore he is forced to post his pieces on the Internet. The Hague tribunal sentenced him for disclosing sealed transcripts of Croatian President Stjepan Mesic’s testimony. He was also sentenced for business fraud.
1. Serb Gen. Dragoljub Milosevic Found Guilty on Terrorism Charges by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
2. Serb Gen. Stanislav Galic Found Guilty on Terror Charges by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
3. Serb Gen. Stanislav Galic to Serve Life Imprisonment for Sarajevo Terror Campaign
4. Serbian terrorist cells actively operate in many countries – external link.
1. Second Largest Human Rights Organization Condemns Dr. Darko Trifunovic
2. Dr. Darko Trifunovic – Srebrenica Genocide Denier
3. Dr. Darko Trifunovic – “I wish [Ratko] Mladic killed them all.”
4. Dr. Darko Trifunovic – Fear, Prejudice and Srebrenica Genocide Denial
5. Dr. Darko Trifunovic – Under FBI Investigation
ZELJKO IVANOVIC IN CUSTODY, ARRESTED IN PALE
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The State Protection and Investigation Agency (SIPA) arrested Zeljko Ivanovic – an indicted Bosnian Serb war criminal and a fugitive from justice who took part in the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide – on Wednesday and handed him over to the Prosecutor’s Office. According to the State Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Zeljko “Arkan” Ivanovic was arrested in Pale – the seat of the Bosnian Serb wartime president Radovan Karadzic.
Karadzic is currently on trial for genocide at the U.N.-based International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (see photo of a “Serb hero” who is facing justice frightened and with tears in his eyes).
Prosecutors allege Zeljko Ivanovic (DOB: 11/20/1972) had participated in the execution of Bosniak Muslim men and boys in a warehouse Kravica near Srebrenica. More than 1,000 Bosniaks were shot dead there on July 13, 1995.
With regards to Kravica executions, our readers may recall that another Bosnian Serb war criminal, Nedjo Ikonic, was recently arrested in the U.S. and sentenced to 1 year in prison for lying about his background. He is expected to be deported to face Srebrenica genocide trial in Bosnia-Herzegovina as soon as he is released from the U.S. prison. Men under Ikonic’s command actively participated in mass executions in a warehouse Kravica.
Srebrenica massacre was the worst act of genocide in Europe since World War II. From 1992-1995, Serbs in villages around Srebrenica had brutally terrorized Bosniak Muslim population of Srebrenica in the most horrific ways. To view photos of Serb terror around Srebrenica click here.
The massacre was recognized as Genocide by the U.N.-based International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and subsequently by the International Court of Justice (World Court) at the Hague.
Bosnian Serb forces – commanded by General Ratko Mladic – slaughtered more than 8,000 Bosniak men, children, and elderly, as well as forcibly deported (ethnically cleansed) about 25,000 people from the enclave, after the town, which was a United Nations protected safe zone, fell into their hands in July 1995. To bring General Mladic to justice, the United States Government is offering a reward of $5 million for information leading to his arrest. To claim reward, click here. Also read about creative ways Serbia is using to prevent General Mladic’s capture; in 2008, Serbia destroyed Ratko Mladic’s fingerprints from Serbian police files. General Mladic is still on the run 14 years after he was indicted for the Srebrenica genocide.
3,000+ IMAGINARY “SERB VICTIMS” IN VILLAGES AROUND SREBRENICA
As a result of military operations conducted against the Bosniak Muslim civilians in and around Srebrenica (1992-1995), Serbs suffered 151 civilian casualties. Now, in order to justify the genocide committed against the Bosniak Muslim population of Srebrenica, Serbian nationalists propagate grossly inflated claims that over 3,000 Serb civilians were murdered around Srebrenica. Milivoje Ivanisevic (background), who came up with this number, is a Srebrenica genocide denier himself. Ivanisevic’s claim that there are about “3,000+ Serb victims” have been discredited by the International Criminal Tribunal (source), Human Rights Watch (source), and Bosnia’s State-level Research and Documentation Center (source).
In 1993, the U.N. forces were sent to Srebrenica to protect Bosniaks (Muslims) from Serbs, not the other way around. During the Bosnian war, 1992-1995, Serbs kept Srebrenica under deadly siege and terrorized Bosniak civilians in the most horrible ways. In order to prolong the suffering of innocent Bosniak Muslim victims from 1992-1995, Serbs in villages around Srebrenica barricaded Muslim women, children, and elderly men in abandoned houses and then set them on fire alive (click here to see photos of Muslim victims around Srebrenica). Nonetheless to remind our readers that Serbs started killing Bosniak Muslim civilians around Srebrenica in 1992 and they never stopped until they committed genocide against the Bosniak Muslim population of Srebrenica in July 1995.
The latest lawsuit against the U.N. was filed by Stephen Karganovic (aka: Stefan Karganovic), who happens to be a founder of the Srebrenica genocide denial NGO known as “The Historical Project Srebrenica” (Historijski Projekat Srebrenica). He is also a close associate of Dr. Darko Trifunovic (background) and Milivoje Ivanisevic (background) – both of them discredited Srebrenica genocide deniers.
Karganovic uses careful words in the media and passes himself as a man who does not deny “Srebrenica massacre.” As many Srebrenica genocide deniers do, Karganovic accepts the term “massacre,” but refuses to acknowledge the proper term – Genocide. For him, there was no genocide against the Bosniak population of Srebrenica.
Recently, he stated: “Our parallel task is to investigate the allegations of genocide against Moslem prisoners and correct the record on that score.” Note that he used the term “allegations” in referring to the Srebrenica genocide.
“All we want to achieve is that the Serb victims from around Srebrenica get the same attention as the Muslim victims in Srebrenica,” he said. In other words, Karganovic’s purpose is to equate the genocide perpetrated against the Bosniak Muslim population of Srebrenica with individual war crimes against the Serbs.
Serb sources maintain that casualties and losses during the period prior to the creation of the safe area gave rise to Serb demands for revenge against the Bosniaks based in Srebrenica. The ARBiH raids are presented as a key motivating factor for the July 1995 genocide. This view is echoed by international sources including the 2002 report commissioned by the Dutch government on events leading to the fall of Srebrenica (the NIOD report [see Answer to Question #10]). However these sources also cite misleading figures for the number of Serb casualties in the region. The NIOD report, for instance, repeats the erroneous claim that the raid on Kravica resulted in the total annihilation of its population. Many consider these efforts to explain the motivation behind the Srebrenica massacre are merely revisionist attempts to justify the genocide. To quote the report to the UN Secretary-General on the Fall of Srebrenica:
“Even though this accusation is often repeated by international sources, there is no credible evidence to support it… The Serbs repeatedly exaggerated the extent of the raids out of Srebrenica as a pretext for the prosecution of a central war aim: to create a geographically contiguous and ethnically pure territory along the Drina, while freeing their troops to fight in other parts of the country. The extent to which this pretext was accepted at face value by international actors and observers reflected the prism of ‘moral equivalency’ through which the conflict in Bosnia was viewed by too many for too long.” – UN Report on Srebrenica
Serbian media is also circulating gruesome photo forgeries alleging they represent Serb ‘victims’ around Srebrenica. Take a look at a sample photo forgery of alleged “Serb victim” around Srebrenica at this link.
“The Republika Srpska’s Commission for War Crimes gave the number of Serb victims in the municipalities of Bratunac, Srebrenica and Skelani as 995; 520 in Bratunac and 475 in Srebrenica. The Chronicle of Our Graves by Milivoje Ivanisevic, president of the Belgrade Center for Investigating Crimes Committed against the Serbs, estimates the number of people killed at around 1,200. For the Honorable Cross and Golden Freedom, a book published by the RS Ministry of Interior, referred to 641 Serb victims in the Bratunac-Srebrenica-Skelani region.
The accuracy of these numbers is challenged: the OTP noted that although Ivanisevic’s book estimated that around 1200 Serbs were killed, personal details were only available for 624 victims. The validity of labeling some of the casualties as “victims” is also contested: studies have found a significant majority of military casualties compared to civilian casualties. This is in line with the nature of the conflict—Serb casualties died in raids by Bosniak forces on outlying villages used as military outposts for attacks on Srebrenica (many of which had been ethnically cleansed of their Bosniak majority population in 1992).
For example the village of Kravica was attacked by Bosniak forces on Orthodox Christmas Day, 7 January 1993. Some Serb sources such as Ivanisevic allege that the village’s 353 inhabitants were “virtually completely destroyed”. In fact, the VRS’ own internal records state that 46 Serbs died in the Kravica attack: 35 soldiers and 11 civilians, while the ICTY Prosecutor’s Office’s investigation of casualties on 7 and 8 January in Kravica and the surrounding villages found that 43 people were killed, of whom 13 were obviously civilians. Nevertheless the event continues to be cited by Serb sources as the key example of heinous crimes committed by Bosniak forces around Srebrenica.
As for the destruction and casualties in the villages of Kravica, Siljkovići, Bjelovac, Fakovići and Sikirić, the judgment states that the prosecution failed to present convincing evidence that the Bosnian forces were responsible for them, because the Serb forces used artillery in the fighting in those villages. In the case of the village of Bjelovac, Serbs even used the warplanes.” – Office of the United Nations Prosecutor
RECOMMENDED READING:
United Nations Srebrenica Report (1999) – Online PDF version available in 6 languages.
Srebrenica Numbers – Quick Facts
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Srebrenica Massacre 