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FUGITIVE GEN. RATKO MLADIC’S FINGERPRINTS MYSTERIOUSLY MISSING
PHOTO: Wartime Serb General Ratko Mladic, top fugitive sought by the International Criminal Tribunal, is regarded by many Serbs as “hero” for killing 10,000 to 15,000 civilians in Sarajevo – 1,500 of them children – as well as committing Srebrenica genocide and placing thousands of Bosniaks and Croats into concentration camps…
Serbian justice system is a joke. Srebrenica genocide survivors were sick to their stomach when they learned that family of recently arrested top fugitive, Radovan Karadzic, knew about his whereabouts and even assisted him to evade justice. Before his arrest, Karadzic’s family lied on numerous occassions about not knowing anything about his whereabouts. Serbia refused to prosecute members of Karadzic’s family, and the war crimes court in Belgrade never responded to our e-mails demanding the prosecution of these criminals who publicly admitted their involvement in directly helping Karadzic evade justice. When NATO raided house of Karadzic’s wife, Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic, they found letters from Belgrade with initials Dragan David Dabic. She was known by putting up fake tears for the media and pretending to be innocent victim who never knew where her husband was. (related: see photo of visibly shaken Karadzic facing justice in tears)
There is a $5 million reward issued for the information leading to the arrest of indicted war criminal Ratko Mladic.
Rasim Ljajic, the highest ranking Bosniak politician in Serbia, has confirmed that part of the information Ratko Mladic submitted for his ID card application has been mysteriously “lost.” Ljajic is also the president of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and leader of the Sanjak Democratic Party. Sanjak (or Sandzak) is a region lying along the border between Serbia and Montenegro where Bosniaks Muslims make up majority or 52.36% of population.
Ljajic stated that the information about mysteriously lost fingerprints “should not have come out in public,” but said that allegedly an investigation is underway into the lost documentation.
Serbian Daily Blic writes that like Radovan Karadzic and Stojan Zupljanin, Ratko Mladic is using a false identity and documents in another name. Blic stated that this revelation has infuriated the new security services boss, Sasa Vukadinovic, on whose arrival it was ascertained that information was leaking out and reaching Mladic himself.
The Blic daily newspaper quoted Serbian war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic as saying that Mladic’s capture will be a much tougher job than the arrest in July of another genocide suspect, Radovan Karadzic.
“The inner circle of guards around Ratko Mladic includes people who are ready to use weapons at any moment. That is why the arrest of the most wanted … suspect is much harder than was the case with Karadzic,” – Vukcevic said. He expects Mladic’s quick arrest, but predicted that the fugitive is in fact not hiding in disguise like his recently captured partner in crime Radovan Karadzic.
ICTY: BOSNIAN SERBS WERE UNDER CONTROL OF BELGRADE
Update note, March 10, 2008: Thank you for your comments. I am moving excerpts of Owen’s comment (quoting the Judge Al-Khasawneh) on top:
“The ‘effective control’ test for attribution established in the Nicaragua case is not suitable to questions of State responsibility for international crimes committed with a common purpose. The ‘overall control’ test for attribution established in the Tadić case is more appropriate when the commission of international crimes is the common objective of the controlling State and the non-State actors. The Court’s refusal to infer genocidal intent from a consistent pattern of conduct in Bosnia and Herzegovina is inconsistent with the established jurisprudence of the ICTY. The FRY’s knowledge of the genocide set to unfold in Srebrenica is clearly established. The Court should have treated the Scorpions as a de jure organ of the FRY. The statement by the Serbian Council of Ministers in response to the massacre of Muslim men by the Scorpions amounted to an admission of responsibility. The Court failed to appreciate the definitional complexity of the crime of genocide and to assess the facts before it accordingly.”
Recently, Slobodan Kostic, a Serbian journalist from Belgrade, wrote an excellent article for IWPR titled How Belgrade Escaped Genocide Charge.
The article details some of the steps Serbia took to successfully block the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia from disclosing extremely sensitive transcripts of meetings the Serbian Supreme Defence Council held between 1992 and 1995.
As Slobodan Kostic points out and we agree with him, quote:“It is widely believed that the transcripts, which record the meetings of top officials, contain evidence of Belgrade’s direct involvement in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia in the 1990s.”
PHOTO CAPTION: Photos of the Srebrenica Genocide billboard in Belgrade vandalized with the message threatening a repeat of Srebrenica genocide: ‘There’s going to be a rerun’.
The question remains: If one day victims get their way and Serbia makes sensitive transcripts public, will the authenticity of these transcripts be compromised in the meantime? 
After all, Serbia had plenty of time to forge whatever documents they wished. What stops Serbia and Republika Srpska from forging military orders so they comply with Geneva Convention?
It is important to note – and most people don’t realize this fact – the Prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal proved an international armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina no less than five times, confirming Serbia’s direct involvement in a full blown international attack on Bosnia-Herzegovina. Here is an excerpt of ICTY judgment confirming Belgrade’s full control over Bosnian Serbs (financial, logistical, and more importantly in direction, coordination and supervision of the activities of the Serb Army, VRS):
Tadic, (Appeals Chamber), July 15, 1999, paras. 156, 162: “It is sufficient to show that [the Yugoslav Army] exercised overall control over the Bosnian Serb Forces. Such control manifested itself not only in financial, logistical and other assistance and support, but also, and more importantly, in terms of participation in the general direction, coordination and supervision of the activities and operations of the VRS [the Army ofthe Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina/Republika Srpska]. This sort of control is sufficient for the purposes of the legal criteria required by international law.” “[F]or the period material to this case (1992), the armed forces of the Republika Srpska were to be regarded as acting under the overall control of and on behalf of the FRY [the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)]. Hence, even after 19 May 1992 the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina between the Bosnian Serbs and the central authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina must be classified as an international armed conflict.” See also Tadic, (Appeals Chamber), July 15, 1999, para. 87. [read more…]
Nevertheless, there was Genocide in Bosnia. While ICJ confirmed Srebrenica genocide, another European Court handed down Bosnian genocide judgment. It should be noted that on September 26th 1997, Germany handed down the first Bosnian Genocide conviction to Serb soldier Nikola Jorgic for crimes committed in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In reviewing the case in the judgement of Nikola Jorgic v. Germany on 12 July 2007 the European Court of Human Rights upheld Bosnian Genocide conviction.
SERBIAN TERRORIST GROUP “MLADA BOSNA” ET AL
PHOTO: Serbs set an American flag on fire during a mass protest rally against Kosovo’s declaration of independence in Belgrade, Serbia, Feb. 21, 2008.Serbian Terror Attack on the U.S. Embassy
The attack on and subsequent burning of the U.S. embassy (and other embassies in Belgrade) by masked Serb hooligans is a terrorist act. If, for example, Albanians attacked the U.S. Embassy in Pristina, then the media would call them “terrorists”. But when Serbian terrorists attack and burn down embassies, they are called rioters, mobs, thugs, protesters… In fact, they are not rioters, mobs, thugs, and protesters – they are Serbian terrorists.
A 21 year-old Serbian terrorist, identified by B92 as Zoran Vujovic, who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade with the help of the group died in the fire.
Vujovic’s charred body was recovered from the embassy and identified by his father, Milan Vujovic, who recognized some of the personal belongings that were recovered, including his son’s gold chain. The DNA analysis later confirmed this.
Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica had said earlier the terrorist attacks on foreign institutions, such as embassies and companies, in Serbia was the result of the diplomatic recognition of the new Kosovar state by the US and many European Union countries.
The biggest Serbian newspaper, Novosti, in an article published on Sunday justified the Serbian terror attacks on the US embassy in Belgrade, quote:
“Nobody has the right to equate the built up anger of the people with hooliganism. The US embassy was set on fire. It was not set on fire by Serb nationalists, as some media have reported, it was set on fire by Americanism and contemporary fascism.”
Serbian terrorist group: bomb attacks
Serbian terrorist organization “Mlada Bosna,” or “Young Bosnia” (same name as Gavrilo Princip’s group that assasinated Archduke Franz Ferninand in Sarajevo and started WWI) recently took responsibility for several bomb attacks, including bomb attack on Mercator mall in Belgrade and EU mission HQ in Mitrovica.
Several newspapers and magazines in Serbia also received e-mails from a group calling itself Mlada Bosna, or Young Bosnia, claiming responsibility for a string of terrorist attacks with hand-grenades since Kosovo’s independence declaration.
The group’s name echoes that of the organization that included the Bosnian Serb terrorist Gavrilo Princip, who in 1914 killed Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, triggering World War I in which over 40 million casualties resulted, including approximately 20 million military and civilian deaths.
Amnesty International has voiced concerns about the physical safety of Natasa Kandic – one of most respected human rights activists in Europe and the director of the Belgrade’s Humanitarian Law Center.
An interview with Borko Ilic – vice president of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) – in the daily Kurir, was headlined “Traitor” (referring to Natasa Kandic’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence).
Another article in the daily Vecernje novosti was headlined ‘Natasa Kandic, the woman who does not exist’, implying that as a non-person, her elimination would be without consequences. Other human rights activists also have concerns for their security. Serbian terrorist group “Mlada Bosna” is suspected of being involved in recent anonymous threats against the Serbian human rights activist Natasa Kandic.
Uttering Terrorist Threats Against Kosovo Albanians
Just over a week ago, the head of the Serb Orthodox Church in Kosovo, Bishop Artemije, has denounced the Serbian armed forces for doing nothing and called for a new war, quote:
“Serbia should buy state-of-the-art weapons from Russia and other countries and call on Russia to send volunteers and establish a military presence in Serbia.”
In his latest piece titled “It’s Time for Us to Show our Teeth” published in ultra-nationalist Serbian newspapers “Glas Javnosti”, Serbia’s self-proclaimed “terrorism expert,” discredited Srebrenica genocide denier, and former identity theft criminal Dr Darko Trifunovic (biography) uttered terrorist threats by calling for Kosovo Albanian civilians to be bombed, quote:
“As soon as Pristina declares independence… Belgrade must order tanks to attack Kosovo, including the artillery bombings of the Province until Kosovo is returned under sovereignity of Serbia…”
It All Started in Kosovo
In 1389, in the famous Battle of Kosovo a coalition of armies including Serbs, Albanians, Bosnians and Hungarians, led by the Serbian prince Lazar Hrebljanovic was defeated by the Ottoman Turks, who finally took control of the territory in 1455.
Serbs consider Kosovo their religious and cultural heartland, just as they consider other parts of former Yugoslavia to be “theirs” for various reasons (depending on who you ask). The original inhabitants of Kosovo were not Serbs, but Illyrians – ancestors of today’s Albanians. Depending on who’s counting, Kosovo is 90% to 95% ethnic Albanian.
In 1989, Slobodan Milosevic gave an infamous speech in front of one million galvanized Serbs at the place where Serbs suffered a historic defeat from the Turkish army in 1389. In his speech, he openly threatened war in an open manner with any one of the Yugoslav nations if Serbian domination became endangered, quote:
“Six centuries later, now, we are being again engaged in battles and are facing battles. They are not armed battles, although such things cannot be excluded yet.”
Milosevic’s speech was just one of many attempts by Serbia to exert its domination over other peoples in Former Yugoslavia.
As Lisa Van Dusen of Edmonton Sun explains, quote:
“That day, the final of weeks of 600th anniversary celebrations, Milosevic extolled the importance of Kosovo to the Serbian national psyche, lay the groundwork for stripping Kosovo of its administrative autonomy and hinted darkly at an armed battle to come…. Throughout 1998, Serb police and Yugoslav army forces played a game of ethnic cleansing beat the clock on the ground while Milosevic himself paid lip service to international negotiators, including U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke and Secretary of State Madeline Albright, who were backed up by the threat of NATO airstrikes as early as September 1998. By the time the bombing started in March 1999, hundreds of thousands of Kosovars were already homeless and fleeing to Albania with the clothes on their backs; on foot, by donkey cart, in cars and still being bombed on their way out by Yugoslav war planes.”
In the ensuing battles against the neighbours, Serbia lost four wars in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Serbs sought to ethnically cleanse Kosovo of Albanians three times: In the 1911-12 Balkan Wars after they seized it from the Ottoman Empire; in 1945; and in the 1990s. This brutal record, and persecution of Albanian Kosovars in the post-Tito era, invalidates any legitimate claims Serbia has to Kosovo.
Under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic, Serbs became international pariahs intoxicated them with Nazi-style bogus historical mythology, primitive nationalism, and anti-Muslim racism. According to Eric Margolis of Edmonton Sun, quote:
“In 1999, while Europe watched impotently, Milosevic’s forces killed 13,000 Kosovar Albanians, blew up mosques, gang-raped Muslim women, burned Albanian villages and drove one million Albanian Kosovars into frigid winter fields where they would have died of exposure without outside help. The U.S. saved the Kosovars by launching a short air war on the Serbs. Outraged Serbs claimed they were victims of an American-German conspiracy. Kosovo was their historical medieval heartland, they insisted. Serbia’s very soul. But by 2008, Kosovo’s population was two million Albanians and only 60,000-80,000 Serbs and gypsies, mostly in the Mitrovica enclave. About 100,000 more Kosovo Serbs had moved to Serbia.”
It All Ended in Kosovo
Kosovo has been a centuries-long inspiration for radical Serbian nationalism, Serbian Orthodox Christian religious extremism, and irrational anti-Muslim fanaticism. The loss of Kosovo represents a major blow to the Serbian propaganda and psychology of self-inflicted victimhood of mythical proportions.
Kosovo joins five former republics that have withdrawn from Belgrade’s reign since 1991. The secession of the province, which is 90 per cent ethnic Albanian, marks the latest and the final chapter in the bloody dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. What follows is a lasting peace and prosperity for all, but most importantly for Albanians who suffered greatly under the Serbian terrorist dictatorship.
Kosovo will never be part of Serbia, again.
Srebrenica Massacre 