peter, sydney
pre 16 godina
nikshala:
Nemanja (#8) answered the most of the points you brought up in your last post (#7) well, so I will just finish you off :)
> I hope the reason for Del Ponte publishing this in a book, is not to create controversy to increase the sales of her book.
While I personally don't like del Ponte, that doesn't mean that I don't believe her. She believes in what she says & does. Is why she was appointed as chief prosecutor for the Hague.
As to why she published this book - you really only have to look at her past history. Her fanatical determination to bring to trial those she considers responsible for war crimes in the balkans is well known. To serbs in particular.
The book is merely a way for her to continue doing so - by shining a spotlight on those issues she still considers outstanding such as the subject above, now that she is no longer at the Hague. Am sure that will also be many chapters devoted to the serbs as well, but that is not the topic here.
That is my opinion, and I believe it is a more credible explanation for her motives than yours.
As regards the strength of the evidence for the charges del Ponte brings, it is only 'weak' when considering the chances of a conviction.
In the west, one is considered to be guilty until proven innocent. That is not the same as saying that just because a conviction is not attained, that one is innocent. Just means that one is not considered to be guilty in a court of law.
The presumption of innocence is meant to minimise the chances of a wrongful conviction against one who is truly innocent - not to convict one who is truly guilty - ie: better for 9 guilty people to go free than for 1 innocent to be convicted.
The subject matter in del Pontes book makes it clear that she believes the KLA to be guilty of the charges she makes, but she believes proving it will be extremely difficult in the present climate.
I happen to share that belief, but I also believe that the effort must be made - for the memory of the victims, the sake of their families & for Justice.
Proving these charges in a court of law will however, be extremely difficult due to the time that has passed & the location of the alleged crimes - Albania.
Albania can not be expected to facilitate this investigation. Nor can K-albanian authorities.
And this is not 'racism', it is simply a statement of reality reflecting the relationships between the KLA, the K-albanian leadership & the albanian government - all of which have connections with the albanian mafia.
As a reminder, this is what del Ponte wrote:
> The local Albanian prosecutor revealed another dimension of the 'cooperation' problem; he boasted that his relatives had fought in the KLA and he told the Tribunal's investigator: 'No Serbs are buried here. But if they did bring Serbs over the border from Kosovo and killed them, they did a good thing.
Compound this with the possibility (serbs would say probability) that those heading UNMIK in Kosovo, have their own political reasons (serbs believe their agendas do not reflect their mandate, but instead the goals of the EU & US) for not facilitating a true investigation, & you get some idea of just why del Ponte considers a conviction 'impossible'.
roberto:
Rather than discussing the topic, or the points raised by other posts, all you do is rail at the pro-serb camp, attacking them, questioning their motives & tossing out more propaganda in the process.
The only thing I agree with in your entire diatribe is the call for a thorough investigation of the charges. As for the rest, it simply isn't worth my time answering - I have better things to do.
> and let us TRY for a decent level of journalism, hunh?
I make no pretense at being a 'journalist', but do endeavour to discuss the subject & the arguments raised by the opposition in a logical manner. While I may occasionally have a go at someone, will usually only do so if sufficiently 'irked' by the opposition.
Have recently said this in another post but will repeat it here.
I personally do not hate K-albanians, nor albanians in general, nor even people who like to spread the sort of propaganda we see above.
What I do hate is the injustice that is displayed towards serbs by various sections of the west, as well as the propaganda that perpetuates those injustices.
And try taking your own advice please.
Peter Sudyka:
> Has anyone here actually read the book, or are you just going to criticize it,
'bganon' recently (as of the time I'm posting this) found an english translation of some of it dealing with the subject at hand. Here is the link:
http://listserv.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0804&L=JUSTWATCH-L&T=0&O=D&P=179705
Pretty much says what we already know but is worth reading for the 'context' & detail.
Am also well aware of the 'balkan' mentality. Tragedy of it is that serbs, croats & bosnian muslims are essentially the same people. And if you go back far enough, then we are all related.
shqarthi:
> i hope you don't want this horror to be true...
And I hope that you are ashamed for thinking that anyone would want it to be so merely to prove a point.
What I do believe is that the allegations are true. I also believe that it may well never be proved so in a court of law given my arguments above.
And I also believe that many in the opposing camp believe it to be so also. They are just not willing to admit it.
For instance, some might believe that your comment above is a tacit acknowledgement of the charges.
Both because someone is once again 'attacking the messenger', & because you didn't say 'alleged' horror. Believe that could be interpreted as a 'freudian slip'. Could also simply be bad english, but then again, yours is pretty good.
Anyway, on to your point about a possible DNA comparison.
The extracts from del Pontes book actually say this about the blood found:
> A forensic chemical spray revealed blood splatters along the walls and floor of a room inside the house, except for a clear area of the floor about six feet in length and two feet wide.
The 'chemical spray' del Ponte is referring to is probably something like luminol which will show even the most minute traces of blood if present - even if attempts have been made to clean it all away.
Question is: Was there enough for a DNA swab?
My assumption is that there wasn't, as would have been an obvious thing for del Ponte's pathologist to do if there was.
A question for the investigation.. that is if it ever gets launched.
lili:
You've made these points before, & other people have already rebutted them.
I also refer you to my previous post (#6) on this topic. It's about 2/3 of the way down.
Will also reinforce the message now.
Illegal organ trafficking has been going on in India. There are people there who have been kidnapped, & had their organs removed by criminals, for profit.
This is a documented fact.
If it can be done in India.. then it can be done in Albania.
End of story.
The pro K-albanian camp keeps bringing up reasons why the charges cannot be true. And the pro serb camp keeps knocking them down.
So let's approach the allegations from 'another direction'.
Is obvious that some type of surgery was performed in the 'yellow house'. For any reasonable person, this is a given. Is also obvious that attempts have been made to hide these activities.
Allegations of 'organ harvesting' & murder have been made, backed up by statements from both serbs & some albanians, together with other circumstantial evidence.
Tell me please, if not 'organ removal', then what surgeries were performed at the 'yellow house'?
And why were these surgeries 'covered up'?
So let's get an independent, robust investigation into these charges underway, & give justice at least a chance to be done.
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