The ICTY's Chief Prosecutor Back in Belgrade

Who Tamed Carla del Ponte?

The Serbian premier has scored yet another point by silencing people inside DOS and the opposition claiming that after Milosevic's extradition, the Hague tribunal would immediately seek the surrender of other suspects. Djindjic also left Kostunica in the open by saying that the Yugoslav president, being in charge of the army, should deal with the case of the "Vukovar Trio," wanted by the international court.

AIM Belgrade, September 8, 2001

A visit by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Carla del Ponte, to Belgrade at the beginning of this month has dispelled pessimistic forecasts that the authorities in Belgrade would soon have to deliver another "Serb head" to this institution.

To the contrary: after her visit it became obvious that by extraditing the most renowned Hague indictee, Slobodan Milosevic, Djindjic has managed to tame Del Ponte. In addition to greatly praising the Serbian government, Del Ponte also confirmed that the tribunal will let Belgrade take care of some trials because it will not last for ever, and what is more important, has not insisted on new extraditions. Thus speculation that the chief prosecutor came to Belgrade to seek the head of Serbian President Milan Milutinovic turned out to be nothing more, just speculation.

Milutinovic's departure for The Hague would at this point additionally shake the already fragile Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS). The Serbian premier is aware of this danger and a day before Del Ponte's arrival hastened to say that "Milutinovic enjoys immunity from prosecution, and that national legislation is still above the ICTY's statute," which, however, was not the case when Milosevic was handed over.

Djindjic said the Constitution specifies procedure for dismissing the Serbian president, but that it is so complicated that no one has even considered the issue at this point. Another option, the premier explained, would be to violate the Serbian Constitution (that is, to extradite Milutinovic without first revoking his immunity from prosecution), but that, according to him, would be a revolutionary act. Del Ponte's spokeswoman, Florance Hartmann, rashly but not erroneously said on the eve of the visit that immunity is not an obstacle to extradition, because the ICTY Statute is above national legislation.

Del Ponte made no mention of Milutinovic in Belgrade, at least not publicly, and both she and Djindjic said in harmonized statements after their meeting that no names were mentioned. The ICTY prosecutor explained that the Federal Justice Ministry was aware of all the names on the sealed indictments. The tribunal expects Belgrade to hand over a total of 15 people, both public and secret indictees. In addition to Milutinovic, also charged by public indictments are former Serbian interior minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic, former Yugoslav defense minister Dragoljub Ojdanic, and former Yugoslav deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic. All of them were charged in the spring of 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, with war crimes in Kosovo.

Also publicly indicted is the so-called Vukovar Trio -- Yugoslav army officers Veselin Sljivancanin, Mile Mrksic, and Miroslav Radic. They are charged of being responsible, as officers of the former Yugoslav people's Army, for the killing of about 300 prisoners of war at the Ovcara farm, near Vukovar, in November, 1991. According to national legislation, the three of them are in the jurisdiction of the Yugoslav army, which, according to the Yugoslav Constitution, is in the charge of Yugoslav President Kostunica. Although Kostunica this time did not meet with Del Ponte -- the federal Justice Minister met with her on behalf of the federal state -- he somewhat softened his position on cooperation with the ICTY by reprimanding Sljivancanin, who several days prior to Del Ponte's arrival said at a promotion of a book in Vrbas, Vojvodina, that he did not recognize the U.N. court and will never appear before it.

Kostunica said Sljivancanin's public appearances "greatly aggravated Yugoslavia's international position and damaged that of Sljivancanin himself." The Yugoslav president also added that the practice of handing over of Yugoslav citizens should stop, and that a bill on cooperation should be passed first. The former federal government of Zoran Zizic fell when a bill on cooperation with the ICTY was debated in the Yugoslav Parliament. The Montenegrin parties in Parliament refused to vote for the bill, and the federal government passed a decree on cooperation with The Hague in June. When the decree was challenged by the Constitutional Court, the Serbian government decided to act: it passed a decree which served to transfer Milosevic to the detention unit in Scheveningen the same day.

Kostunica noted that the Vukovar Trio was already on trial before a military court, which he said should end. It is interesting that the trial began in 1998, and that the three officers indicted by the ICTY testified only as witnesses to the crime committed on the Ovcara farm by unknown perpetrators.

The Yugoslav president did not comment on Del Ponte's visit, nor did Del Ponte mention Kostunica in any way, although the talks she had with Serbian officials were held in Federation Palace, which houses the Yugoslav president's office.

The three officials who spoke with Del Ponte -- Djindjic, Markovic, and Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic -- could have not been more pleased with the talks: the ICTY did not made any ultimatums, and the only shadow was cast by the mention of the Mladic case. Namely, after she left Belgrade, Del Ponte said that the Yugoslav government had accepted to cooperate in the extradition of the former commander of Republika Srpska army, Ratko Mladic, and that the tribunal was informed that he lives in Yugoslavia.

The Serbian premier said he discussed neither Mladic nor former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic with the chief prosecutor. He added that Mladic was the only person mentioned, and that he told Del Ponte the government in Belgrade is not aware of his whereabouts, that he is not a Yugoslav citizen and that the Serbian government has no power over him. Admitting that he was taken by surprise by Del Ponte's statement, Djindjic also said that he believed this involved some form of special strategy by the tribunal "and it was probably a message to Mladic, meant to provoke certain reactions." The statement did not make Del Ponte's hosts in Belgrade too happy, because whatever the truth is, one side was not telling it.

Despite this small misunderstanding involving Gen. Mladic, Batic concluded immediately after Del Ponte's departure that the process of two-way cooperation between the ICTY and Belgrade has been initiated, and added that that will be confirmed by the conditional release from prison of former RS president Biljana Plavsic.

Plavsic arrived in Belgrade on Sept. 7 and said that thanks to the government in Belgrade she will be allowed to remain in the Yugoslav capital until spring 2002, when her trial before the ICTY is supposed to begin. The conditional release of Plavisic prompted speculation about the type of deal Belgrade made with the tribunal to achieve it. Whether she will, in exchange for temporary freedom, testify against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic remains to be seen.

As far as the government in Belgrade is concerned, primarily the Serbian premier, it has scored yet another point because it silenced those in DOS and the opposition who claimed that after Milosevic's extradition, the Hague court would immediately demand the surrender of other suspects.

It also occurred to Djindjic to leave the Yugoslav president in the open by saying that it is up to him to settle the case of the "Vukovar Trio," as he is in charge of the Yugoslav army.

Olivera Mamuzic

(AIM)