UN Radio in Kosovo

Serbian ex-police General Finally in Den Haag

By Andrea Saula 7^th April 2005

Hello and welcome. This is UN radio in Kosovo,

Serbian ex-police general Sreten Lukic indicted in 2003 in connection with killings of Kosovo Albanian civilians in 1999 on Wednesday was supposed to plead to the charges filed against him in front of The Hague Tribunal but decided to postpone the process until May 4.

Sreten Lukic, who headed the heavily armed Ministry of Internal Affairs paramilitary force, was among four Serbian generals who allegedly planned and ordered the murders of civilians by Serb troops during the conflict in Kosovo in 1999.

The indictment sets out that the forces of the former Yugoslavian Army and Serbian para-military police – “acting at the direction, with the encouragement, or with the support of" Sreten Lukic, murdered hundreds of Kosovo Albanian civilians as part of a widespread and systematic campaign of brutality and violence, that resulted in the forced deportation of approximately 800,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians.

Belgrade human rights activist Natasa Kandic, who’s been for years closely covering war crimes and human rights violations in the region, explains that Lukic is indicted for alleged crimes of: four counts of Crimes Against Humanity and one count of violations of the laws or customs of war.

Actuality No. 1 He is indicted on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility but also on the basis of his superior or command responsibility for failing to take the necessary and reasonable measures to prevent his subordinates, or to punish them for committing the crimes on large scale in Kosovo.

Serbia has been under pressure to hand over General Lukic for several years. His departure to the Hague had been postponed with the official explanation stating that his health condition is weak.

After he had been treated in the hospital and after ICTY doctors had examined him, Sreten Lukic was transferred to Den Haag on Monday 4^th of April directly from the hospital.

The representative of Serbian ruling coalition Andrija Maldenovic confirmed Lukic’s surrender.

Actuality No. 2 I can’t tell you anything more but that this case is just like previous ones in past months. It is voluntary surrender and nothing but that.

However, Lukic’s attorney and some of the hospital staff claim that he was taken from his bed and that practically he was arrested. Bojan Toncic is covering war crimes issues for Belgrade newspapers “Danas”.

Actuality No. 3 It seams like that he refused to voluntarily surrender and that the Government of Serbia arrested him but wanted to make it look like surrender in order to get some points with the international community. (edit to) It is not important if he was taken in his piyama or he was naked. The indictment against him is very much comprehensive.

Lukic is accused alongside former police and military Generals Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic and Vlastimir Djordjevic.

In February Serbian army General Vladimir Lazarevic, surrendered to the tribunal while Djordjevic allegedly fled to Russia in 2001 and Pavkovic has said he would rather die than surrender to the Tribunal.

While authorities in Belgrade claim that they are not aware of Pavkovic’s whereabouts at the moment, Bojan Toncic says that this case looks like another intentional omission.

Actuality No. 4 Considering Pavkovic, without any doubts he run away. The Government allowed Pavkovic to run away the same way it had allowed ex military Goran Hadzic to do the same.

In past weeks many of ICTY indicted Serbs voluntarily surrendered to the Tribunal but besides Pavkovic the two most famous warlords Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic remain at large.

Human rights activist Natasa Kandic warns that full cooperation of Serbia with the Tribunal still doesn’t exist and won’t exist until the government is ready to say that these indicted people are not heroes but that they committed war crimes.

Actuality No. 5 Besides the obligation regarding the hand over of suspects, actual cooperation with the Tribunal doesn’t exist and won’t exist until Karadzic and Mladic end up in front of ICTY and until in the public somebody starts to talk why these people surrendered.

Frustrated by Belgrade's perceived reluctance to hand over suspects, the United States has suspended financial and political aid directly to the Serbian government.

The European Union also has made it clear that the development of closer EU-Serbia ties depends on Belgrade extraditing wanted war crimes suspects.

Belgrade is expecting to get positive signal for the feasibility study by the end of this week.

For updates on this story and more regional news stay tuned to the studios of UNMIK radio, thank you for listening.