President of the International Criminal Courts Mechanism (MRMKS) Carmel Agius has officially rejected the proposal that the documents of the tribunal, which was stripped of its secrecy and forcibly seized, be returned to Srpska and the establishment of an information and documentation center in Banja Luka modeled on a center opened in May 2018 in Sarajevo.
Agius said in response to Director of the Republican Center for War, War Crimes and Searching for Missing Persons, Milorad Kojić, that “The Mechanism cannot do its job and mandate, including preserving the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), with Kojić’s publicly expressed views. “.
– In support of the decision not to pursue a partnership, the fact is that we are aware of numerous cases which continue when opinions expressed publicly on behalf of the Republic Center stood in sharp contrast to the Statute, values and guiding principles of the Mechanism, as well as to the ICTY.
More specifically, it goes on to refer to cases where you, as a director, have made comments and engaged in activities that undermine, disparage, or otherwise seek to discredit the work and case law of the ICTY and the Mechanism.
– Accordingly, the Mechanism is not in a position to support the Republic Center, as we consider it not a suitable partner to host the ICTY Information Center in Banja Luka – states Carmel Agius.
He states in the reply that the Mechanism attaches great importance to cooperation with the countries of the former Yugoslavia in order to enable the establishment of information and documentation centers and that it is still open to considering any requests from potential partners in the region who are truly ready to accept the conditions set by the Mechanism and in good faith advocate and protect his precious heritage.
On the other hand, Milorad Kojić says that Agius’ response best illustrates the relationship of The Hague tribunal and legal heirs to the Serbs.
– It is clear that unfair judgments from The Hague must be upheld at all costs and that anyone who challenges them cannot cooperate with the tribunal. It is absolutely unbelievable that, following my statements, they concluded that the Republic Center was not an institution with which the tribunal could cooperate. If judges have the right to a dissenting opinion, how is it possible for anyone to challenge the right to an opinion – says Kojić.
According to him, no one can forbid, especially expert institutions, from interpreting the conclusions, judgments and everything else that the Hague tribunal did.
– When it comes to the credibility of the tribunal, can a court be called for credibility by a court which found no one guilty of crimes against Serb civilians in Podrinje and who relieved any responsibility of those who expelled 250,000 Serbs from Krajina. I am only talking about these cases, and the crimes against the Serbs, before whom The Hague has closed its eyes, abound – Kojić concludes.
He adds that documents from recent archives in the UK that confirm that the RS military and political leadership had no plans to commit a crime in Srebrenica are just some of the evidence that casts a completely different picture of what happened during the BiH war. from the one created by The Hague tribunal in its judgments.
The Information Center on the Work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was opened at the Sarajevo City Hall on 23 May 2018. The center, whose opening was attended by former ICTY President Fausto Pocar, contains about 400,000 documents in electronic form, and the original Hague tribunal courtroom was established within the center.
TST
