"Mladić arrest state's primary interest"
Serbia continues with full intensity its search for the Hague fugitive Ratko Mladić because resolution of that issue is of primary state interest.
Tuesday, 21.09.2010.
10:28
Serbia continues with full intensity its search for the Hague fugitive Ratko Mladic because resolution of that issue is of primary state interest. This is according to National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal President Rasim Ljajic. "Mladic arrest state's primary interest" He said that lawyer Jelena Rasic has been handed over to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (Hague) for bribing witnesses to testify in favor of Hague indictee Milan Lukic, said Ljajic. "The proceedings against Rasic were completed last week, she did not appeal and today she was transferred to the Hague tribunal," said Ljajic. He evaluated as surprising the statement by Hague Chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz, who said that Serbia's cooperation with the tribunal is insufficient, but that it should not open further public debate with the chief prosecutor but should initiate a constructive dialogue at the operational level. "We are ready to hear and implement all suggestions and proposals that would make our efforts to locate and arrest Hague fugitives more efficient," said Ljajic, who is also minister of labor and social policy. “Brammertz criticism bad news” Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz's criticism that was made public yesterday, accusing Serbia of not cooperating sufficiently with the tribunal, is very bad news, says President of the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) Ljiljana Smajlovic. Smajlovic, who has good knowledge of the Hague Tribunal, commented late on Monday by saying that this was Brammertz’s strongest criticism directed at Belgrade since he took office. The Hague prosecutor said that he was not pleased with Serbia’s cooperation regarding the search for former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic and Croatian Serb political leader Goran Hadzic, and that Belgrade needed to do more. Smajlovic, however, said it was unclear why Brammertz chose such a stern approach now, especially after the readiness shown by Serbia when it agreed with Brussels to change its UNGA Kosovo resolution. “This government has just shown that it is ready to make enormous concessions even regarding Kosovo, well, why then wouldn't they extradite Mladic if they could. This government has just given up on its entire foreign policy strategy under pressure from Brussels (EU), when it comes to Kosovo, so it seems to me that this is more arm-twisting, an additional fierce pressure. The key in Brammertz’s message is that the policy of setting conditions is the best thing whet it comes to Serbia,” Smajlovic explained. It remains to be seen how much this message could jeopardize what was already announced in Brussels and in Belgrade several days ago during EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele’s visit – that the EU Council of Ministers will on October 26 most likely give its green light to European Commission (EC) to consider Serbia’s candidacy bid. Officials in Serbia are aware one possible obstacle could be the fact that the Netherlands still has a technical government, several months after the elections, and Smajlovic thinks that the Dutch could, among other things, use the chief prosecutor’s assessment as a good excuse. “Fuele himself said that there are no shortcuts in the accession process,” she pointed out. “And when you say that there are no shortcuts – Ratko Mladic is always in the background, and there is always the unwillingness of the Netherlands to cut us some slack. So it seems to me that this is very bad news. If nothing else, because this the excuse that the Netherlands needs,“ the journalist and UNS president concluded. The chief prosecutor is submitting reports on Serbia's cooperation with the Hague Tribunal to the UN Security Council twice a year – in June and December. Brammertz is expected to visit Serbia in mid-November, before his next report is due at the UN.
"Mladić arrest state's primary interest"
He said that lawyer Jelena Rašić has been handed over to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (Hague) for bribing witnesses to testify in favor of Hague indictee Milan Lukić, said Ljajić."The proceedings against Rašić were completed last week, she did not appeal and today she was transferred to the Hague tribunal," said Ljajić.
He evaluated as surprising the statement by Hague Chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz, who said that Serbia's cooperation with the tribunal is insufficient, but that it should not open further public debate with the chief prosecutor but should initiate a constructive dialogue at the operational level.
"We are ready to hear and implement all suggestions and proposals that would make our efforts to locate and arrest Hague fugitives more efficient," said Ljajić, who is also minister of labor and social policy.
“Brammertz criticism bad news”
Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz's criticism that was made public yesterday, accusing Serbia of not cooperating sufficiently with the tribunal, is very bad news, says President of the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) Ljiljana Smajlović.Smajlović, who has good knowledge of the Hague Tribunal, commented late on Monday by saying that this was Brammertz’s strongest criticism directed at Belgrade since he took office.
The Hague prosecutor said that he was not pleased with Serbia’s cooperation regarding the search for former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladić and Croatian Serb political leader Goran Hadžić, and that Belgrade needed to do more.
Smajlović, however, said it was unclear why Brammertz chose such a stern approach now, especially after the readiness shown by Serbia when it agreed with Brussels to change its UNGA Kosovo resolution.
“This government has just shown that it is ready to make enormous concessions even regarding Kosovo, well, why then wouldn't they extradite Mladić if they could. This government has just given up on its entire foreign policy strategy under pressure from Brussels (EU), when it comes to Kosovo, so it seems to me that this is more arm-twisting, an additional fierce pressure. The key in Brammertz’s message is that the policy of setting conditions is the best thing whet it comes to Serbia,” Smajlović explained.
It remains to be seen how much this message could jeopardize what was already announced in Brussels and in Belgrade several days ago during EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele’s visit – that the EU Council of Ministers will on October 26 most likely give its green light to European Commission (EC) to consider Serbia’s candidacy bid.
Officials in Serbia are aware one possible obstacle could be the fact that the Netherlands still has a technical government, several months after the elections, and Smajlović thinks that the Dutch could, among other things, use the chief prosecutor’s assessment as a good excuse.
“Fuele himself said that there are no shortcuts in the accession process,” she pointed out.
“And when you say that there are no shortcuts – Ratko Mladić is always in the background, and there is always the unwillingness of the Netherlands to cut us some slack. So it seems to me that this is very bad news. If nothing else, because this the excuse that the Netherlands needs,“ the journalist and UNS president concluded.
The chief prosecutor is submitting reports on Serbia's cooperation with the Hague Tribunal to the UN Security Council twice a year – in June and December.
Brammertz is expected to visit Serbia in mid-November, before his next report is due at the UN.
Komentari 19
Pogledaj komentare