Halilovic Appeal

The OTP is appealing the acquittal of the former Chief of the BH Army Main Staff, Sefer Halilovic for failing to prevent or punish the killing of civilians in Grabovica and Uzdol. Halilovic was also at the preceedings, and he has an opportunity, should he wish, to speak on his own behalf.

Martic Verdict & "Storm"

The title and first paragraph of this article focuses on the reaction of the SRS to the Milan Martic verdict. However I think the more interesting & certainly more relevant point is made further down, as defense lawyers for Gotovina discuss the repercussions the Martic verdict may have on their own case.

Weekend Reading

The Tribunal weekly update; and the Balkans weekly update.
Meanwhile, I'll be out of town until Monday/possibly Tuesday. Take care!

The case of the missing documents

As we have found out a few weeks ago, the ICJ ruled in Bosnia v. Serbia case, without seeing the Serbian government's complete archive. Recently, ICTY prosecutor Geoffrey Nice has alleged that ICTY chief prosecutor, Carla DelPonte was behind this, presumably to assure that that the ICTY would get the conviction of Milosevic the indvidual; at the expense of the state government aparatus of Serbia being found responsible in the ICJ trial. Of course, with Milosevic's (sort of) premature death; if that was indeed the case, that plan obviously backfired horribly. It would not come as a surprise that the ICTY rejected Nice's allegations.
Meanwhile, Del Ponte has somehow been moonlighting as a older version of Turbofolk star, JK. ;-)

At the heart of this matter, is the rhetorical question of whether or not the documents, given the very narrow interpretation of the law, would have effected the outcome of the case.

Mladic Petition

Open to all British citizens (at home and abroad) and residents. If you know anyone who fits the criteria and would be interested in signing the petition; direct them to this site:



Mladic to ICTY

Defining genocide and the law

The opinion piece of Martin Shaw in The Guardian.


These debates are nothing new, during the Milosevic case, there were similar debates over whether the Prosecution had proven Milosevic's legal guilt for genocide; and whether the bar to legally prove genocide was impossible to meet.

Mr. Milosevic's Ghost

Although his "untimely" death (and untimely in the sense that it did not allow for a verdict to be rendered; for the people of the Balkans they would be much better off had Mr. Milosevic passed away almost two decades before he ultimately did) rendered the case against him legally obsolete. Nevertheless, Milosevic's presence isn't completely obsolete as Observer at Neretva River ponders what the ICJ verdict has to say about Mr. Milosevic's legal guilt for genocide.
And some days ago, Andras from the justwatch-l discussion group noted that the ICTY has not had unrestricted evidence to the Serbian government's files; and that because the case never actually came down to a verdict, there is no way of knowing whether the ICTY could effectively prove Milosevic's legal guilt.

Justice and Impunity

Human Rights Watch offers a report on the Bosnian War Crimes Chamber. Meanwhile over at Neretva River; Observer offers his take on Ratko Mladic's "miraculous disappearance from EU policy papers." While authorities in the Netherlands criticize the EU for the not being "strict enough with Serbia."
Back in Bosnia, Dodik says that he'd rather stay out of the EU than accept police reforms and the abolishment of the RS police force.
Meanwhile, a Bosnian court recently sentenced a former police officer/mafiaso to 26 years in prison for crimes relating to his second occupation.

IWPR Update

A rather short issue this week.

Can a fast trial be a fair trial?

and

Margetic Conviction Sparks Media Ethics Debate

Del Ponte seeks extension of ICTY mandate

The title is pretty self-explanatory. From justwatch-l via B-92