CROATIAN WORLD CONGRESS – HRVATSKI SVJETSKI
KONGRES
NGO in Special
Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
President
Carmel Agius
The Hague, The Netherlands
The Hague, The Netherlands
6
of April 2016
Dear Madam,
I would like to voice my displeasure on the recent acquittal of Serbian
nationalist politician, Vojislav Šešelj, by the International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia, after being formally indicted in January 2003 for
participating in Joint criminal enterprise.
His acquittal is a travesty of justice, it will send the wrong signal
not only to people of former Yugoslavia, but to the world community at large
that crimes against humanity are permitted and it is possible to escape
punishment.
While no particular charge against the accused was established,
nevertheless Vojislav Šešelj was allegedly guilty of propagating violence,
hatred, mass extermination, persecution of civilians, with the intention of
achieving a Greater Serbia..
As Judge Flavia Lattanzi during a lengthy dissenting opinion stated:
“that she considered that Šešelj's guilt was proven in eight out of nine
counts. She stated that Šešelj had aided and abetted the crimes as charged,
because he provided moral and material support to his volunteer force”. She was
also convinced: “that widespread and systematic attacks had been carried out
in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vojvodina, and that crimes against humanity have been
committed”.
It is interesting to note her conclusion:"while I was reading the
verdict of the majority of Council members, I had the impression that I went
back many centuries ago, to the ancient times of the history of mankind, when
the Romans, in order to justify their bloody conquests and murders of political
enemies in civil wars, were saying: Silent enim leges inter arma ("For among [times of] arms, the laws fall mute)”.
Yours sincerely
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