SERBIA: The chief prosecutor of the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Serge Brammertz says Serbia must explain why it took so long to arrest its war criminals
Record ID:
644813
SERBIA: The chief prosecutor of the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Serge Brammertz says Serbia must explain why it took so long to arrest its war criminals
- Title: SERBIA: The chief prosecutor of the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Serge Brammertz says Serbia must explain why it took so long to arrest its war criminals
- Date: 14th September 2011
- Summary: BELGRADE, SERBIA (SEPTEMBER 13, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SERBIA'S SPECIAL COURT BUILDING WINDOWS ON SERBIA'S SPECIAL COURT BUILDING CHIEF PROSECUTOR OF THE U.N. WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, SERGE BRAMMERTZ (LEFT) SHAKING HANDS WITH SERBIAN CHIEF WAR CRIMES PROSECUTOR, VLADIMIR VUKCEVIC BRAMMERTZ WITH HIS TEAM AND VUKCEVIC WITH HIS TEAM SEATED CAMERAMEN BRAMMERTZ AND VUKCEVIC SEATED MEDIA LEAVING ROOM SERBIAN PRESIDENT, BORIS TADIC (LEFT) , AND THE HAGUE CHIEF WAR CRIMES PROSECUTOR, SERGE BRAMMERTZ, SEATED TADIC TALKING BRAMMERTZ LISTENING TADIC WITH HIS AIDS BRAMMERTZ AND TADIC COMING TO THE NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF PROSECUTOR OF THE U.N. WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, SERGE BRAMMERTZ, SAYING: "It's absolutely logical that we want to know who has not fulfilled its international obligation and who is responsible that those arrests took place so late, I also think that in the meantime, having worked well enough with the political leadership and with the operational leadership, I think it is very important to know for the operational leadership also to know who were possibly persons in their environment which have not done the job." PHOTOGRAPHER (SOUNDBITE) (English) SERBIAN PRESIDENT, BORIS TADIC, SAYING: "Right now we are investigating what happened in past 16 years who has been supporting all fugitives and I am expecting in the next few months to have a crystal clear report about that. Second, I am aware fully what happened in past three years, I am President of Serbia for seven years but this is obvious that I didn't have executive power in my hands in that direction, in arresting fugitives, there were few governments within my two terms as a President of Serbia but in past three years when we had real responsibilities we delivered three fugitives." TADIC AND BRAMMERTZ LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 29th September 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Serbia, Serbia
- Country: Serbia
- Topics: International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAB5ANGURLD65XMZOKFLVZ1977M
- Story Text: Serbia owes an explanation on why it took so long to arrest war criminals, said Serge Brammertz, Chief prosecutor of the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, on Tuesday (September 13) on his first visit to Belgrade after the capture of Ratko Mladic and Gorand Hadzic.
"It's absolutely logical that we want to know who has not fulfilled its international obligation and who is responsible that those arrests took place so late, I also think that in the meantime, having worked well enough with the political leadership and with the operational leadership, I think it is very important to know for the operational leadership also to know who were possibly persons in their environment which have not done the job," said Brammertz at a joint news conference with Serbian President Boris Tadic in Belgrade.
Earlier today Brammertz met with Serbia's chief war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic.
Ratko Mladic, branded the "butcher of the Balkans" for his wartime role, was arrested in Serbia on May 26 and handed over to the Hague. On July 20 Serbia arrested Goran Hadzic the last major war crimes suspect from the 1990s Yugoslav conflicts. But the ICTY now wants to know who in Serbia helped Mladic and Hadzic to be on the run for 16 years.
"Right now we are investigating what happened in past 16 years who has been supporting all fugitives and I am expecting in the next few months to have a crystal clear report about that. Second, I am aware fully what happened in past three years, I am president of Serbia for seven years but this is obvious that I didn't have executive power in my hands in that direction, in arresting fugitives, there were few governments within my two terms as a president of Serbia but in past three years when we had real responsibilities we delivered three fugitives," said Serbian President Boris Tadic.
Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is crucial to Serbia's prospects for joining the European Union. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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