BELGRADE, June 3 (Hina) - Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic on Sunday wrote to the international war crimes chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, harshly accusing the prosecution for being biased and requested charges be leveled
against Croatian political leaders, Moslems in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo Albanians. Batic called on dl Ponte not to "deal out selective justice", and accused her of "behaving like a mother to one people and as a stepmother to another". Batic's letter is a response to a letter he received two days ago in reply to his previous letter. The contents of del Ponte's letter was not published. "Every day you demand the extradition of Slobodan Milosevic for crimes in Kosovo, while (Kosovo Albanians) Hashim Taqi and Ramush Haradinai, alongside Agim Queku, the biggest criminals in this region, are participating at conferences in NATO and OSCE centres," Batic wrote. Regardin
BELGRADE, June 3 (Hina) - Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic on
Sunday wrote to the international war crimes chief prosecutor,
Carla del Ponte, harshly accusing the prosecution for being biased
and requested charges be leveled against Croatian political
leaders, Moslems in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo Albanians.
Batic called on dl Ponte not to "deal out selective justice", and
accused her of "behaving like a mother to one people and as a
stepmother to another".
Batic's letter is a response to a letter he received two days ago in
reply to his previous letter. The contents of del Ponte's letter was
not published.
"Every day you demand the extradition of Slobodan Milosevic for
crimes in Kosovo, while (Kosovo Albanians) Hashim Taqi and Ramush
Haradinai, alongside Agim Queku, the biggest criminals in this
region, are participating at conferences in NATO and OSCE centres,"
Batic wrote.
Regarding del Ponte's announcement about the establishing of a
special task force for the apprehension of war crimes indictees,
former Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, and
that she would issue new indictments against (former Yugoslav
President Slobodan) Milosevic, Batic criticised the chief
prosecutor for "despite her promise" not having raised one
indictment against "Croatian or Moslem political leaders and state
officials".
Batic again denounced del Ponte for failing to level charges
against, as he wrote, "thousands of Serb victims ... six years since
Flash and Storm Croatian military operations".
He claims Serbs "were the first victims of the war both in Bosnia-
Herzegovina and Kosovo", and accused the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for being "the
inquisition towards Serbs and Mother Theresa towards others".
"Your story about insufficient evidence about crimes against Serbs
according to the principle of command responsibility, is not only
unconvincing, but also illogical, even naive, and thus irritating.
Despite what you might think, Serbs are a proud, dignified and
justice-loving people. It will not amnesty its criminals, but it
will also not accept the imposed collective guilt," Batic wrote.
Yugoslavia still has not passed a law on cooperation with the ICTY.
Serbian and Montenegrin ruling coalitions DOS and SNP should
tonight reach an agreement on the text of the law. The new
government in Belgrade has been dragging its feet for months
regarding the issue. Contradictory and confusing statements by
Serbian and Yugoslav state officials whether war criminals ought to
be extradited have become an everyday occurrence.
(hina) lml