UNMIK on
AIR
October
29th 2003
New
Indictment for the Crimes of Subordinates
(By
Andrea Saula)
Hello and welcome to
UNMIK on Air with Sputnik Kilambi and
Martin Redi
The Hague Tribunal for war crimes in former Yugoslavia
has issued indictments against four senior Serbian security officials. They
include two former top soldiers, General Nebojsa Pavkovic and Vladimir
Lazarevic, the former commander of the Pristina corps. Also in the dock, the
former police chief and assistant interior minister Vlastimir Djordjevic and
the ex chief of Serbian police in Kosovo, Sreten Lukic, who is also Serbia’s
top cop today. They are accused on five counts of war crimes, including murder,
persecution, deportation and inhumane treatment during the Serbian crackdown on
K-Albanians to crush their independence movement. The four men are not accused
of personally carrying out atrocities but are being prosecuted for the crimes
of subordinates.
Serbia, where many view the men as heroes, Lukic in
particularly is considered to be the best cop in the country, is apparently in
no hurry to transfer them to the Hague. The chief UN prosecutor Carla del Pont
refuses to budge, saying Serbia’s obligation is clear.
Azem Vlasi, a lawyer and a former senior communist
party leader in Kosovo says they have to accept ultimate responsibility.
Azem Vlasi: In accordance with
the functions they had in the army and the police, they could be accused of
crimes of subordinates because all the crimes committed against civilians in
Kosovo took place under their control, under their organization and through the
performance of their duties. They were in the chain of command and they were
getting commands from their chief commander Milosevic. They were commanders
here so it means that crimes were committed under their supervision.
Pavkovic and Lazarevic were dismissed from their positions but continue to live in Serbia and Monte Negro. Djordjevic is believed to be out of the country, most probably in Russia. The case of Sreten Lukic is believed to be the trickiest one for the Belgrade authorities. Premier Zivkovic said he wondered why it had taken The Hague so long to issue an indictment against him given that it was common knowledge that he headed the Kosovo police force in 1999. Interior minister Dusan Mihajlovic went further, describing Lukic as his right hand man and the hero of the crackdown against organized crime that followed the assassination of former Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. A telling indication of what Serbian authorities feel they are up against is the following statement from deputy premier Zarko Korac – it shouldn’t be forgotten, he said, that 7 months ago, a man was killed because he was considered to be extraditing the heroes to The Hague.
But yet, to a man, they all say they want to cooperate with the war crimes tribunal. Andrej Nosov, a Belgrade journalist covering human rights and war crimes issues.
Andrej Nosov: It seems to me at this moment
Serbia is not that ready for cooperation with ICTY contrary to its public
declaration. Various administrative and political obstacles hinder that
cooperation. The political situation is not settled. One could be easily
accused in the Assembly of being anti-Serb just because that person speaks out
in favour of cooperation with Den Haag.
Azem Vlasi: everybody knows
that the government is losing support, that the debate on backing the
parliamentary speaker is on and that everybody is talking about the elections.
It is clear that people in power are desperate to remain in power and it is a
hard moment in Serbia. (edit to) On the other hand Serbian authorities are
flirting with a part of the public, which is still under the influence of
Milosevic regime. That part of the public is not small and they consider these
accused people as heroes.
But the issue of cooperation with the ICTY is only one of the problems facing the current Serbian regime, says Andrej Nosov. An equally tough challenge is the existence of different centers of power in Serbia today. Andrej Nosov
Andrej Nosov:
Take the example of Serbian businessman, the owner of the BK company
Bogoljub Karic. Karic has been accused by the minister of foreign affairs Goran
Svilanovic of controlling some MPs. It’s very clear that the police force
today, governed by Dusan Mihajlovic, doesn’t have any kind of discontinuity
with the previous regime.
The latest ICTY indictment points directly to the very top of the Serbian army. Current Minister of defense Boris Tadic has started wide-ranging reforms. But some questions remain, such as, whether the army is in fact an obstacle for cooperation with ICTY.
Boris Tadic:
I don’t have evidence that the Army is an obstacle I can’t say that. Nobody
can persuade me that Nebojsa Pavkovic doesn’t have any influence in the Army.
He was the chief of general staff of Yugoslav Army. Most probably there is some
insider who could tell Nebojsa, be careful, you’ll be arrested.
Observers say the international community is still primarily interested in capturing the Bosnian Serb big fish – fugitives Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic. The Hague tribunal however insists there is no deal with Belgrade to allow other cases to be tried domestically if the Serbians hand over Mladic and Karadzic. So things are still moving and it is unclear what the fate of the four men now wanted by The Hague will be.
That does it for this edition of UNMIK ON AIR. Thanks for listening.