ZAGREB, June 29 (Hina) - "Brave and wise" is how Croatia's President Stipe Mesic described the decision of Serbia's authorities to extradite former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to the Hague war crimes tribunal. "Although
expected and actually unavoidable, the decision of the authorities of the Republic of Serbia, based on which... Milosevic has been extradited to The Hague, is at the same time politically both wise and brave. I emphasise the latter, as the very fact that Milosevic hasn't been extradited on a decision of Yugoslavia's federal authorities but the authorities in Serbia says that there was, in the wide and diverse ruling coalition, significant opposition to this move," Mesic said in a statement. "Belgrade has done what had to be done. The pressure from abroad certainly played an important, although not the most important part in this. By extraditing Milosevic to the Hague t
ZAGREB, June 29 (Hina) - "Brave and wise" is how Croatia's President
Stipe Mesic described the decision of Serbia's authorities to
extradite former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to the
Hague war crimes tribunal.
"Although expected and actually unavoidable, the decision of the
authorities of the Republic of Serbia, based on which... Milosevic
has been extradited to The Hague, is at the same time politically
both wise and brave. I emphasise the latter, as the very fact that
Milosevic hasn't been extradited on a decision of Yugoslavia's
federal authorities but the authorities in Serbia says that there
was, in the wide and diverse ruling coalition, significant
opposition to this move," Mesic said in a statement.
"Belgrade has done what had to be done. The pressure from abroad
certainly played an important, although not the most important part
in this. By extraditing Milosevic to the Hague tribunal,
authorities in Serbia have reaffirmed their commitment to
democracy, while simultaneously making a crucial step towards
facing the truth about the wars on the territory of the former
Yugoslavia and the part Milosevic had in them," Mesic said.
"I have always emphasised the need to individualise guilt, i.e.
responsibility, and I take this opportunity to reiterate so. It is
the only way to exempt the peoples and nations in this region from
the collective guilt mortgage which served some so long, and I must
say successfully, to stall and prevent the normalisation of
relations among the states on ex-Yugoslavia's territory. By
founding the Hague tribunal in 1993, the international community
intended it primarily for the prosecution of the chief architects
of the conflicts in our region, and not only them, but also all whose
involvement with war crimes can be proved," said Mesic.
"The Hague tribunal was not founded to prosecute the members of only
one side in the conflict, only one nation, or only one army, but
everyone, regardless of which side in the conflict they belonged
to, regardless of nationality, religion, military rank or
political function... everyone for whom there is evidence that they
took part in war crimes," read Mesic's statement.
(hina) ha sb