Krajisnik in the Hague

AIM Banja Luka, 4 April, 2000

The arrest of Momcilo Krajisnik was not unexpected, but it has come at a time when it was not expected at all. This could be the briefest commentary of the news that in the night between Sunday and Monday special units of SFOR arrested Krajisnik in his parents' house in Pale.

In political public Krajisnik was known as the man who ranked second in the Serb ethnic movement in Bosnia & Herzegovina (B&H). He appeared in political life alongside Radovan Karadzic when the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) was founded. Before that he had been the manager of one of the enterprises (TAT) in the Sarajevo Energoinvest system. Together with Karadzic he was taken to court and prison for embezzlement in the end of the eighties in connection with construction of Karadzic's summer house which was not proved in the court proceedings. After the first parliamentary elections in B&H in 1990 and the victory of ethnic parties (SDS, SDA and HDZ), as the Serb candidate in the division of political offices, he became the chairman of the National Assembly of B&H. He resigned to this office in April 1992 and became the chairman of the first national assembly of the Republika Srpska.

Krajisnik acquired the reputation of a skilful politician thanks to unlimited patience in assembly haggling of impassioned deputies of the three ethnic groups in the pre-war parliament of B&H. In his rhetoric he advocated the 'hard' stands, but it was never clear whether he meant what he preached. The smile on his face in the moments of white-hot debates in the assembly in the beginning of his political career gave him the appearance of political naiveté. When political misunderstandings of ethnic parties culminated and led to departure of the Serbs from B&H parliament, Krajisnik got the halo of a cunning and perfidious politician with whom it was impossible to reach any agreement. Due to futile, long and exhausting negotiations with political opponents he got the nickname "Mister No".

During the war Krajisnik chaired the National Assembly of RS in Pale and he was the most influential person in state and political leadership along with Radovan Karadzic. Many believe that he had great influence on Karadzic and that often his stand was the decisive one. When he appeared together with Karadzic, he usually spoke after him, but always slightly differently and more rigidly than his more liberal boss. When Karadzic was forced to withdraw from political life under pressure of the international community, Krajisnik became the president of SDS. In the first post-war parliamentary elections he was elected Serb member of B&H Presidency and remained at the post until September 1998, when in the second elections he gave up the post to the candidate of Sloga coalition Zivko Radisic.

Krajisnik is the highest political official from B&H who was taken to the Hague. The secret indictment raised on 21 February this year accuses him of the war crime of genocide and violation of international humanitarian law according to the principle of individual responsibility of political leaders. In view of the political post he held during the war, his arrest was just the matter of days. The published principles according to which Karadzic is responsible, and later deputy Radoslav Brdjanin, clearly marked the circle of politicians who bear responsibility for ethnic cleansing and mass crimes against civilian population in B&H.

Although expected, the arrest of Krajisnik caused considerable disturbance in political public for a few reasons. First, the arrest came just a week before local elections and according to the assessment of majority of analysts of the local political circumstances, it could have a decisive influence on homogenisation of nationalists and unexpectedly high success of SDS. This concern was expressed by prime minister Milorad Dodik who stated that he did not expect Krajisnik's arrest at this moment. In the political camp of SDS, the arrest was immediately transformed into political profit. In its first reaction, SDS called "the Serb people, sympathisers and members of SDS" to accept peacefully this "attempt to stop SDS in its march to election victory" (Kalinic) and show that "SDS is against terror and violence". Prime minister Dodik was accused for the arrest, and as the most dangerous rival in the elections he could be the political victim of this move. Member of the Main Board of SDS Mirko Banjac says that at the latest meeting of presidents of municipal committees of his party (SNSD) Dodik said: "Wage the campaign the best you can, by 4 April something will happen, I cannot tell you what, but it is the key thing for us".

It is estimated that departure of Krajisnik has brought relief to the party leadership of SDS which will enable political transformation of this party. There is no doubt, Krajisnik was the most influential man of SDS and his influence left no space for the young and ambitious Dragan Cavic who is supported by majority of members of this party, especially among membership in Banja Luka and Krajina municipalities. Many believe that such a denouement was even wished for in SDS, which could be confirmed by the fact that the Radicals accused SDS that it had been in collusion with the organisers of the arrest and silently consented to it.

Except for the advantage SDS will have from this in the elections, Dodik has additional reason for concern. Credibility of his cabinet has been brought into question by the arrest of Krajisnik. For quite some time he had announced regulation of relations with the Hague Tribunal, promised protection of dignity of the suspects and removal of the seal of secrecy from the indictments. Futile promises served the leader of SDS Dragan Kalinic to state that everything the government said was pure hypocrisy. By this he obviously also alluded to the statement of minister of justice Milan Trbojevic given after return from a visit to the Hague Tribunal when he said that it had been agreed that during arrests the suspects would be treated humanely.

The case of Krajisnik will reinforce the negative image of the international community in the eyes of the public in RS because of secret indictments and use of inappropriate amount of force during arrests of the suspects. In the latest arrest in Prijedor the wrongly identified person suffered injuries on the face and head due to which he had to be hospitalised. The public had the opportunity to see on TV screens the disfigured face of the arrested and hear his testimony about the inhumane treatment during the arrest. Breaking into the house of Krajisniks' with explosives and the fact that his elderly parents and children were tied up will also be interpreted as pure demonstration of force.

On the other hand, the arrest of the high political official of Bosnian Serbs opens the question of political leaders of the other two nations, of their responsibility for the war and who will answer for crimes against the Serb people. Here are some of the reactions: "Who will be next?" (Z. Radisic), "This is a strike at the foundations of statehood of RS" (M. Sarovic), "It jeopardises Serb struggle for equality" (K. Simic), "This disturbs political conditions in RS" (P. Djokic), "Who will answer for crimes committed against the Serb people?" (M. Ivanic). Counting of the prisoners in the Hague prison shows that most of them are Serbs which is increasingly stated as a fact based on which, more or less logically, fabrications are made which suggest certain stands to the public.

Representatives of the international community look upon this arrest differently than political representatives of the Serbs. For the US ambassador in the UN, Richard Holbrooke, the arrest of Krajisnik is "the most significant event in the Balkans", for High Representative Wolfang Petrisch it will "help the work of the international community in B&H", and for American ambassador in B&H Thomas Miller, the arrest is "a message to the citizens of B&H that they have a choice".

It seems that such different views of the problem of the arrest of suspects of war crimes is becoming a serious problem of implementation of the Dayton accords which inflicts political damage both to the international community and the democratic forces in power in RS. If prime minister Dodik and the ruling Sloga coalition believe that it is better for their credibility to have SFOR arresting the suspects, they have an illusion which they could pay for at the forthcoming elections. If, on the other hand, the international community believes that by arresting suspects it is doing Dodik a favour, it is taking a risk that it will soon be talking to political representatives of the Serbs in the Hague instead of in Banja Luka.

Branko Peric

(AIM)