Byzantine Blog

Kostunica: ICTY is a Mockery of Justice

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica assessed that today's sinister decision by the ICTY to release Albanian war criminal Ramus Haradinaj finally confirms this is the court which does not exist to serve justice.

"It is obvious that this court was established so that those who have committed crimes, like Haradinaj, be given a formal confirmation of their innocence," Kostunica said.

"With this decision, on top of Haradinaj's crimes against Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, a new major crime was committed and Serbia states this publicly and explicitly. This decision of the Hague Tribunal represents a mockery of justice and a mockery of the innocent victims who suffered at the hands of Haradinaj," said Kostunica.

Samardzic: Wooden Stake Through ICTY's Heart

Kosovo-Metohija Minister Slobodan Samardzic said that the acquittal of the former terrorist KLA commander Ramus Haradinaj is catastrophic and will result in numerous political, moral and legal consequences.

At the press conference in Serbian Government building, Samardzic reminded that a number of prosecution witnesses failed to show up at Haradinaj's trial, after some of the witnesses scheduled to testify against the war criminal Haradinaj were killed.

He assessed that the decision to release Haradinaj drove a wooden stake through the chests of ICTY, proving that the justice is not being served.

"Haradinaj's acquittal shows that there is no international justice for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia," he said, noting that Haradinaj's indictment had been "soundly drafted with solid evidence and numerous witnesses".

"The verdict has allowed a war criminal to continue engaging in politics in Kosovo and Metohija and will affect the state endeavors for preserving Kosovo province as part of Serbia", Samardzic said, adding that the ruling "has poured oil onto fire in the Kosovo issue".

Djelic: Scandalous Decision

Serbia's Vice Premier Bozidar Djelic said this is a black day for the international justice and that decision about Haradinaj's acquittal is scandalous, especially since the trial was marred in pressures against the witnesses and their murders.

Djelic said that Haradinaj's release will be a grave strike to the stability in the region and will create an additional obstacle to the process of reconciliation between the two nations.

Ljajic: Petersen and the International Community Responsible

President of the Serbia's National Council for Cooperation with Hague Tribunal Rasim Ljajic said that this decision represents a legal and political scandal.

He added that the acquittal of the war criminal Haradinaj will negatively influence the already poor standing of the ICTY among the Serbian public.

Ljajic stressed that the list of those responsible for such blunder and injustice is rather long, adding that the most responsible is the former UNMIK chief Søren Jessen-Petersen.

Petersen has failed to do anything to protect the witnesses and cooperate with ICTY which, according to Ljajic, former ICTY chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, was also stressing. More than that, Del Ponte sharply criticized Petersen for nurturing a close friendship with Haradinaj even after he was indicted for war crimes, he publicly addressed him as "my friend", used every opportunity to have his pictures taken with the Albanian butcher and even gave him a ceremonious escort to Pristina airport, on his way to the Hague trial.

Ljajic believes that the responsibility for the latest ICTY injustice lies also on the Hague's committee which caved in under the Petersen's pressures, who demanded that Haradinaj be allowed to conditional release.

"Instead of securing evidence, the former ICTY chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte was collecting the interesting bits for her book," Ljajic said.

Reminding that the negotiations between Serbia and the EU were cut off for 13 months, allegedly due to Serbia's failure to cooperate with the ICTY, Ljajic stressed that the international community ought to claim responsibility.

"Nobody paid attention to threats and pressures exerted against the witnesses. Nine witnesses, three of whom were in the protection program, were killed. No one from the international community said one word about that," Ljajic stressed.

Serbia's War Crimes Prosecutor: ICTY Ripe for Retirement

"The acquittal ICTY judges issued to the war criminal Ramus Haradinaj today confirms this 'tribunal' is ripe for retirement", said Serbia's war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic.

In a statement to Tanjug, Vukcevic stressed that the degradation of the ICTY trials is obvious not only in the Haradinaj case, adding that the 'exit strategy' is becoming visible in the Hague courtrooms too.

Vukcevic said he expects that ICTY prosecution will file an appeal to Haradinaj's acquittal, adding that he will suggest assistance of his deputy specialized in Kosovo-Metohija cases to the chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz.

"Through the case of Anton Lekaj, I have been personally assured of the criminal responsibility and the personal involvement of Ramus Haradinaj in the war crimes committed in Pastrik," Vukcevic stressed.

He reminded that the former KLA member Lekaj was convicted to 13 years imprisonment in September 2006, in the War Crimes Tribunal of the Belgrade Court, for taking part in the murder of one person and kidnapping and torture of a group of non-Albanians in June 1999, in Djakovica.

Serbian war crimes prosecutor recalled that the Hague prosecution sought 25 years prison sentence for Haradinaj, for the crimes he committed, and that 80 witnesses were brought to the trial against Haradinaj.

"What is important is that nine witness linked to the Haradinaj case have been killed in the 2003 - 2007 period. One survived an assassination attempt," Vukcevic said.

He underscored that the Tribunal's witness protection program for Kosovo and Metohija province has "completely failed".

Kosovo Serbs: Haradinaj Acquittal Proves Western Double Standards

Representatives of Kosovo Serbs were shocked by the ICTY decision, assessing that Haradinaj's acquittal proves that the 'international community' has double standards and that the Serbs can't expect any justice in the Hague.

President of the Community of Serbian Towns and Municipalities Marko Jaksic said that the ICTY decision is scandalous and represents "the total embarrassment for the international community."

"Criminals are rewarded with a state to which they are returning as heroes, while on the other hand the truth about missing and abducted Kosovo Serbs remains hidden, as does the trade of their organs, about which former chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte wrote in her book," Jaksic said.

"This is a very negative message not only for Serbs who remain in Kosovo province, but also for the Europeans, that the Hague tribunal was not established to deliver justice, but to accuse the Serbs," said Jaksic, adding that this should be sobering slap for the Serbs.

Democratic Party, DS, Commissioner for Kosovska Mitrovica and its candidate for MP Dragisa Djokovic told Tanjug that the verdict was another proof that the Tribunal was a "political court with no connection to either law or justice".

Lawyer Tapuskovic: Hague's Quasi-Justice and Impotence

Belgrade lawyer Branislav Tapuskovic said that Hague's acquittal of the war criminal Ramus Haradinaj represents "the breakdown and the impotence of the Hague justice".

Tapuskovic, who defended several Serbs indicted by the ICTY and was an amicus curia ('friend of the court') during the kangaroo trial against the late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, said that Haradinaj's acquittal shows the ICTY's double standards in full light.

Pointing that Haradinaj went to Hague "as a hero, with a blessing of the international community representatives" and that he will now return "as a hero", Tapuskovic said that the war criminal's release will cause the great unrest and fear among the Kosovo-Metohija Serbs.

Lawyer Borovic: Nothing Better Could be Expected from a Western Political Court

Lawyer Borivoje Borovic stated that Haradinaj's acquittal proves that the ICTY, as a political court, does not treat all the crimes the same way.

"With his temporary release, when he was violating ICTY's conditions, Haradinaj has demonstrated his status of an American citizen, for whom the rules of the international law do not apply," Borovic said.

Borovic, who defended the former Yugoslav National Army (JNA) officer Miroslav Radic in the ICTY, wonders if this means that "Kosovo and Metohija, after the acquittal of Haradinaj, will become the 51st American state in the midst of Europe".

Stating that he expected such verdict, Borovic assessed that, by releasing Haradinaj, ICTY has shown its impotence, being established with the money of the Western powers.

Cartoon by Vladimir Kazanevsky (Ukraine)