Ejup Ganic, ‘Racist’ Serbia’s ‘Incompetence’ And The Srebrenica Massacre
WE spotted former Bosnian leader Ejup Ganic outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court accompanied by his daughter Emina where a judge decided not to extradite him to Serbia over alleged war crimes.
The 64-year-old was accused of ordering a series of atrocities committed in Sarajevo during fighting in 1992.
Ganic is accused by Serbia of involvement in the alleged killing of 18 soldiers in a Yugoslav army convoy in 1992, at the start of the bloody war in Bosnia.
But in a hearing at London’s City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court, District Judge Timothy Workman said there was evidence the trial could be “politically motivated” and he ruled against extradition.
Judge Timothy Workman offerrd two explanations for Serbia’s attempt to extradite Ganic:
“That of incompetence by the Serbian prosecutors or a motive for prosecuting that is based upon politics, race, or religion.”
He placed the court case in a context:
The court heard that following the arrest of Dr Ganic, who spent 10 days in a London prison before his £300,000 bail was posted by the millionaire Bosnian socialite Diana Jenkins, the Belgrade government had signalled to London and the Bosnian authorities it was ready to drop the extradition proceedings if Sarajevo signalled its acceptance of the Srebrenica Declaration.
The formal apology by Serbia for the massacre of Bosnian Muslims, which is seen as crucial to Belgrade’s attempts to join the European Union, angered many victims by failing to describe the atrocity as “genocide”.
Mr Workman said: “I am satisfied from the evidence… that during the course of these extradition proceedings attempts were made to use the proceedings as a lever to try to secure the Bosnian government’s approval of the Srebrenica Declaration. That in itself must be capable of amounting to an abuse of the process of this court.”
Bruno Vekaric, spokesman for Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor office, told AFP by phone:
“We respect every decision by the British court but there is a right to appeal to a higher court and we will use that right.”
Ratko Katalina, a Serbian colonel, says:
“The court in London probably did not have enough evidence against Ejup Ganic. That’s why they made that decision. That doesn’t mean that he is not guilty.”
Well, they had no evidence.
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GAVRILO PRINCIP, the 19-year-old student who shot down the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie - a deed which led to the holocaust of the first World War. The Archduke, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his Duchess were assassinated on Sunday, June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo during a visit to Bosnia. On August 4, less than six weeks later, Europe was aflame. Princip served only four of a 20 years' jail sentence. He died from TB. 1914.
Posted: 28th, July 2010 | In: Politicians Comments (22) | TrackBack | Permalink
