BELGRADE, Feb 12 (Hina) - Although it is still uncertain if the Haguewar crimes tribunal would refer the case of three former YugoslavPeople's Army (JNA) officers, indicted for war crimes near theCroatian town of Vukovar in 1991, to
Croatian or Serbian courts,debates about whether the trial should be conducted by a court inVukovar or in Zagreb indicate that this would be an act of revenge andnot an objective and fair trial, the correspondent for theBelgrade-based Politika daily in Zagreb said in an article onSaturday.
BELGRADE, Feb 12 (Hina) - Although it is still uncertain if the Hague
war crimes tribunal would refer the case of three former Yugoslav People's
Army (JNA) officers, indicted for war crimes near the Croatian town of Vukovar
in 1991, to Croatian or Serbian courts, debates about whether the trial should
be conducted by a court in Vukovar or in Zagreb indicate that this would be an
act of revenge and not an objective and fair trial, the correspondent for the
Belgrade-based Politika daily in Zagreb said in an article on Saturday.The reporter goes on to say that the main problem with war crimes trials
in Croatia is lack of ethnic balance of indictees and the existence of double
criteria, and explains that Serbs receive harsher sentences for the same crimes
than Croat indictees. International organisations monitoring war crimes trials
in Croatia, including the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
have warned about this problem on a number of occasions, says the reporter.
"Considering that such assessments still exist, it is difficult to
believe that the Hague tribunal will send the 'Vukovar Three' to be tried by
courts in Croatia, where they will face tensions and a desire for revenge,
instead of sending them to Serbia and Montenegro, where they come from. It
would be a serious precedent which would destabilise the entire region as
stated by Serbian President Boris Tadic," the reporter says.