Karadzic and The Hague: Interview With Dr. Trifkovic
by Chronicles
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The BBC talks to Dr. Trifkovic regarding the forthcoming Karadzic trial at The Hague Tribunal. “This trial would need to mark a new beginning by The Hague,” he says, “and yet I have no reason to believe that such a beginning will indeed be made.”
BBC: The fact that Karadzic could face trial at The Hague is causing consternation among those who consider the court to be anti-Serbian. Srdja Trifkovic is one of them. He is an American historian, journalist and political analyst, and an expert on Balkan politics.
TRIFKOVIC: It would be a hugely significant moment if it were to be followed by a fair and just trial that would seek to establish the facts of the case, not only on Srebrenica but also on what came to pass in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995. However, in Serbia many people—including those who favor the new, pro-European government—have a very jaundiced view of The Hague Tribunal, especially since the release of Nasir Oric, the wartime commander of the Muslim garrison in Srebrenica, came just before the capture of Karadzic. In fact, in Belgrade The Hague Tribunal is universally regarded as a politically motivated tool for providing quasi-legal justification of political decisions made by the powers-that-be back in the early 1990s.
BBC: What about the indictment against Mr. Karadzic? Do you think the war crimes were committed?
TRIFKOVIC: The war crimes were committed, absolutely. What remains to be seen is to what extent the war crimes committed by the Serbs will continue to be treated as uniquely more substantial, more evil and more massive, than those committed by the other two sides. What we have witnessed in the case of Nasir Oric in particular, is a truly egregious failure by The Hague Tribunal to connect the commander of Srebrenica with the war crimes which the Tribunal itself does not deny have taken place: thousands of Serbian civilians in the surrounding areas were killed between 1992 and 1995. For Serbia’s “European perspective,” for Serbia’s ability to come to terms with the past in the way that does not provide grounds for fresh resentment and revisionism, this trial would need to mark a new beginning by The Hague—and yet I have no reason to believe that such a beginning will indeed be made.
BBC: And yet this individual, who is charged with such heinous crimes, needs to be brought to justice, even if—as you argue—there are others still out there who haven’t been brought to justice. But here’s one opportunity to deal with one set of crimes, surely?
TRIFKOVIC: The problem is that dealing with “one set of crimes” in connection with “one individual” is not fulfilling the function of the Tribunal as stated at the time of its establishment in 1993, which was to establish an equivalent of an international “truth and reconciliation commission.” Quite the contrary, in the case of Serbia The Hague Tribunal has only generated fresh controversies and provided fresh grist for the mill of the nationalist wing of Serbia’s body-politic, which keeps claiming that the cards are stacked against the Serbs’ favor.
From BBC Radio 4, The World Tonight, Tuesday, July 22, 2008, 22:14 BST
For more, click here to watch Dr. Trifkovic’s interview with Russia Today.
[Subscribe online to Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. Click here for details].
1 Comment by Bill Wilder on 23 July 2008:
Dr. Trifkovic provides a well-balanced perspective on the subject and successfully Karadzic’s case in the proper context. I wonder if it will make a difference?
2 Comment by Michael Averko on 23 July 2008:
An uphill effort for sure.
It’s quite unfortunate how one sided the overall coverage has been without many realizing this. This has nurtured a situation of arrogantly ignorant thoughts.
3 Comment by james on 23 July 2008:
I
4 Comment by james on 23 July 2008:
We’ve got to demolish the myth that western media is independent and unbiased. On major foreign policy issues they are a branch of the intelligence agencies.
Views on 9/11, Balkans, Russia, Belarus, Venezuala, Iraq, etc are totally inbedded with the government and report from there perspective.
5 Comment by Tomislav Milosevic on 23 July 2008:
What would be a “fair trial”?
In case of GENOCIDE. In the midst of Europe at the end of 20-th century.
Must be a complex story.
How complex?
Anyone willing to explore?
Anyone interested?
Really-really interested?
I don’t think so.
We better speak about betrayal.
We Serbs know almost everything about it.
6 Comment by Etienne Gervaise on 23 July 2008:
The British Broadcasting Corporation is called “Auntie” by the Brits, sort of like Cousin in Fahrenheit 451. It is not to be mistaken for independent media. It is in fact the propaganda arm of the socialist Labor government, and its bills are paid by a tax levied on every television set and radio in the land.
7 Comment by jan on 23 July 2008:
First, Ms Madelaine Albright should be tried in Haque.
8 Comment by PcH on 23 July 2008:
@5 – Yes, what is happening to Serbia is genocide.
Serbs talk about betrayal, but what it looks like to me from the limits of my knowledge is not so much betrayal as outsiders dictating to Serbia. The traitors are simply paid employees of Serbia’s enemies.
Dr. Trifkovic
You look great in the video: tanned, healthy, and easy-going. I have never heard you speak before, and you sound just as good. Your accent reminded me of my old professor Eugen Weber. All this made what you had to say infinitely credible. It was interesting to watch a Russian interview a Serb all in English.
9 Comment by james on 24 July 2008:
@Etienne Gervaise
After the NATO bombing the BBC did a report in kosovo and showed a torture centre and a chainsaw on the table which they claimed was Serbian. We now know it was a KLA torture centre but the BBC has never acknowledged this.
Serbs should teach Serb orthodox christianity 101 in schools as a standard like Russia is doing
Actually I’m curious if theres a population decline in Serbia of the navite population like in other European countries. Do they have an immigration problem in and out.
I wish the RussiaToday programme highlighted the other characters in the Bosnian war like the Croat and Bosnian commanders.
10 Pingback by Trifkovic on the Karadzic Arrest « MANSIZEDTARGET.COM on 24 July 2008:
[...] Dr. Trifkovic, whose reporting and analysis on the Serbian question has been excellent, details the diplomatic fumbles, evasions, and outright lies that led the West to gang up on Serbia and the [...]
11 Comment by Tomislav Milosevic on 24 July 2008:
Treason can be local.
Global treason is different category.
Everything Humanity should stand for, in the eyes of the idealists, of course, in this historical moment seems to be betrayed.
The “Serbia case” is the illustration of what I just said.
Details make a picture. More details, more complex picture. We know that.
I am not concerned with survival of Serbs. They proved over and again that survival has no accountable odds. Centuries of proof to those who care.
Humanity is something I would be VERY concerned.
For all who still don’t care.
12 Comment by Allen Wilson on 24 July 2008:
I have always thought that the dirtbags in the Hague Tribunal should be put on trial, for railroading people whether they were guilty of anything or not, for letting criminals off the hook for political reasons, for persecuting Serbs for the sake of it, for the homicide of Milosevic, and for being nothing but a propaganda show.
13 Comment by Boba Borojevic on 24 July 2008:
Both interviews are excellent. Bravo Dr. Trifkovic.
I wish I could see Serbian officials speaking out the truth like you do. I wish…
Having said that, it is Serbian government of Boris Tadic and his Dacic -”solana coalition” that poses danger to Serbia’s integrity and sovereignty . They have done as much damage to Serbia’s preservation of Serbdom as did NATO bombs to Serbia’s infrastructure and environment with their depleted uranium bombs.
So much so that we (Serbs) cannot pronounce who the worst enemy of the Serbs is, the US led EU coalition or Tadic led “pro-European Serbia” coalition.
14 Comment by JJ on 28 July 2008:
Boba,
When you declare Tadic as possibly “the worst enemy of the Serbs”, what does that make of the 38.4% of them who voted for his coalition in the past elections?