Glasnik Bosanskog kongresa

National Congress of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina (NCR B&H) ONLINE NEWSLETTER – International No. 684 July 30, 2010 CONTENT 1. Three victories of justice, three defeats of Serbia 2. World Court: Kosovo's independence was legal 3. Bosnia ex-leader’s extradition blocked 4. Momcilo Krajisnik denied early release 5. Appology to Ms. Azra Nuhefendic ──────────── This issue is distributed to 35,091 Bosnian and 2,696 international readers. "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line. Then your e-mail address will be promptly deleted. ──────────── 6. Three victories of justice, three defeats of Serbia By Muhamed Borogovac, NCR B&H The following are headlines copied from world media regarding 3 recent court decisions of 3 different western courts against Serbia: World Court: Kosovo's independence was legal (AP) Ex-Bosnian leader Ejup Ganic's UK extradition blocked (BBC) Momcilo Krajisnik denied early release Those court decisions are very important in Bosnia for many reasons, but probably most important as a lesson. Bosnian leaders with the help of Serbian propagandists have created and promoted a conspiracy theory that world powers are responsible for the division of Bosnia because “the West hates Muslims”. In one version of that theory, Americans set in power Milosevic to do the dirty work for them. Therefore, the ideologues of the greater Serbia project are not responsible, nor their puppets among Bosnian politicians. Rather the Americans, British and other western powers are the real conspirators of ethnic partition and genocide. The majority of Bosnian people have been convinced of this theory, deflecting the blame away from Serbia’s agents in the Bosnian government, Izetbegovic, Silajdzic, Tihic, Lagumdzija etc. They accomplished this through control of the Bosnian mainstream media. Since 1992, when the world powers in the security council voted unanimously (and contrary to Serbia’s wishes) to recognize Bosnia as an independent state, Bosnian patriots have been trying to explain to the people that the alleged “hatred of Muslims” does not play a role in the decisions of international institutions. Yet it has been difficult to explain to a people living in a country where the powerful seem immune from the law, that international law is not similarly just a tool for powerful nations to help their friends, such as Serbia. The still ongoing process of dividing Bosnia began when Bosnian “Muslim” leaders, most prominently President Izetbegovic, did Serbia’s bidding in pushing for division in negotiations during the war. This was against the wishes of the people, but the politicians told the people that it was not their choice, that their “arms were twisted”. There was no arm twisting by western countries, but the “arm twisting” theory was so successfully placed that even some western lawyers believe it and still claim that Clinton, through Holbrooke, forced the then Bosnian president Izetbegovic to sign Dayton. Of course, Clinton and Holbrooke did not have any means of forcing Izetbegovic to sign anything. His eagerness to agree with Serbia offered them an opportunity of a quick fix for the Bosnian crisis in Dayton, which was a political liability for Clinton, and they took that opportunity. They are not entirely without blame, as they protected his secret, and they acted as facilitators in creating an ethnic apartheid in a state that was victim of aggression. They also never “outed” him, e.g. they never revealed his true role. By their silence and political opportunism, they let the US take the blame among Bosnians for forcing division of the country, and in that sense, Clinton and Holbrooke put themselves before their country. We note that this all happened after the Bosnian army had decisively turned the tide of the war. According to the “west hates us” conspiracy theory the world is not ruled by law, but by the dictate of powerful politicians. The followers of that theory predicted that Serbia will win against Kosova, that Ganic will be extradited to Serbia that Krajisnik will be released. Those three court decisions in a short time caused that many former supporters of that theory to question it. For many intellectuals those events exposed Bosnian leaders as traitors. The Bosniak leaders have not commented either of the court decisions; they must be keeping a low profile, waiting for the dust to settle down. There are recent reports that a key Bosniak leader, Muhamed Filipovic, wrote a letter to the judge in the case of Mr. Krajisnik, in favor of his early release. Muhamed Filipovic was introduced to Bosniaks as a Bosniak spiritual ethnic leader and even was the organizer of the unconstitutional Bosniak ethnic assembly, an unsuccessful attempt to get Bosniaks themselves to undermine the Bosnian state. Now Bosniaks can clearly see that the western judges, who supposedly “hate Bosniaks and Muslims” rule in favor of the Bosniak people and the Albanian people of Kosova, who are also majority Muslim. 7. World Court: Kosovo's independence was legal The Associated Press 22 July 2010 World court rejects Serbian claim, says Kosovo's 2008 independence did not break int'l law THE HAGUE, Netherlands, July 22 (AP) -- The United Nations' highest court says Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia did not break international law. The nonbinding opinion sets the stage for a renewed push by Kosovo for further international recognition of its independence. Reading the opinion Thursday, International Court of Justice President Hisashi Owada said international law contains no "prohibition on declarations of independence." Kosovo sparked sharp debate worldwide when it seceded from Serbia in 2008, following a bloody 1998-99 war and nearly a decade of international administration. Kosovo's statehood has been recognized by 69 countries, including the United States and most European Union nations. Serbia and Russia lead a handful of others in staunchly condemning it. ──────────── 8. Bosnia ex-leader’s extradition blocked A British judge yesterday rejected a bid by Serbiato secure the extradition of former Bosnian leader Ejup Ganic on war crimes charges, saying the case was politically motivated. Ganic, 64, smiled and hugged his son and sobbing daughter as district judge Timothy Workman declared him free to return to his home country, five months after he was arrested at Heathrow airport as Serbia sought his extradition. “These proceedings are brought and are being used for political purposes and as such amount to an abuse of the process of this court,” Workman said in his judgment at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. “I have concluded that there is no valid justification for commencing proceedings against Ganic”. The Serbian authorities, who had sought Ganic’s extradition on charges of ordering a series of atrocities in Sarajevo in May 1992, immediately announced plans to appeal the decision. During his judgment, Workman also told the court that no significant new evidence had emerged since two previous investigations, one of them by the UN war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia. Afterwards, Ganic and his family said they were heading home and would be inSarajevo by today. “Five months of my life I’ve spent here,” he told reporters outside the court. (...) http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=376889&version=1&template_id=38&parent_id=20 ──────────── 9. Momcilo Krajisnik denied early release UNITED NATIONS International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991 THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL Before: Judge Patrick Robinson, President Registrar: Mr. John Hocking Decision of: 26 July 2010 PROSECUTOR v. MOMCILO Krajisnik PUBLIC DECISION OF PRESIDENT ON EARLY RELEASE OF MOMCILO KRAJISIK Office of the Prosecutor Mr. Serge Brammertz Mr. Momcilo Krajisnik The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1. The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations oflnternational Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991 ("Tribunal") has been advised by the authorities of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ("United Kingdom") that Mr. Momcilo Krajisnik would be eligible on 2 April 2010 for consideration for release on parole licence under the United Kingdom's release arrangements, after having served one-half of his prison sentence. (...) F. Conclusion 33. While Mr. Krajisnik has displayed some evidence of rehabilitation, I am of the view that there remain significant factors that weigh against granting him early release. Mr. Krajisnik's crimes are of a very high gravity, involving a widespread displacement of the non-Serb population in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which caused great suffering. Moreover, in respect of the requirement that the President shall take into account the treatment of similarly-situated prisoners, the practice of the Tribunal is to consider the eligibility of a convicted person only after he has served two-thirds of his sentence; therefore, the fact that Mr.Krajisnik has only recently completed serving half of his sentence does not weigh in favour of his early release. (...) Dated this twenty-sixth day of July 2010 At The Hague The Netherlands Judge Patrick Robinson President [Seal of the Tribunal] 26 July 2010 ──────────── Remark: The ruling was too long for our Newsletter, therefore we quoted only the title and conclusion. The complete ruling is on the web site http://www.icty.org/x/cases/krajisnik/presdec/en/100726.pdf <http://www.icty.org/x/cases/krajisnik/presdec/en/100726.pdf> ──────────── 10. Appology to Ms. Azra Nuhefendic I apologize to Ms. Azra Nuhefendic for the mistake that I made in “Online newsletter No. 673”. In that newsletter I mistakenly understood one sentence in the article 3. Fabricating “Muslim terrorists” in Bosnia – examples from Italy, By Alda Radelli, Italian journalist. In that sentence Ms. Azra Nuhefendic was mentioned. I angrily drew a totally wrong conclusion that Ms. Nuhefendic is “assimilated Serb of Bosnian Muslim background, a typical kind of people that have power among Bosniaks in Bosnia”. The original newsletter included the complete article of Ms. Radelli, and I am hopeful that all the readers saw that my conclusion about Ms. Nuhefendic was wrong. Muhamed Borogovac Tarik Borogovac Postdoctoral Research Associate Boston University Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Smart Lighting ERC 8 Saint Mary's Street Boston, MA 02215 Office Phone: 617-353-0161 tarikb@bu.edu