PETRONIJEVIĆ: BiH COURT'S DECISION OFFENDS SERBS

BELGRADE, JANUARY 8 /SRNA/ – By confirming the indictment against Republika Srpska Army /RSA/ General Radislav Krstić, and doing so on Orthodox Christmas, the Court of BiH has once again demonstrated that there are people within the institution who, whenever possible, act to harm Serbs, lawyer Goran Petronijević stated for SRNA.

Commenting on yesterday's decision by the Court of BiH to confirm the indictment filed by the BiH Prosecutor’s Office on December 29 last year against General Krstić for events in Novoseoci near Sokolac in September 1992, Petronijević said that this should come as no surprise. "Christmas clearly is not their holiday. They treat it as a regular working day. Just as Nikola Jokić set an absolute triple-double record on Catholic Christmas and they remarked `this happened on Christmas,` and he responded that it meant nothing to him because it isn’t his holiday, so, too, can those at the Court of BiH explain that Orthodox Christmas is not a holiday for them," Petronijević stated. He added that, formally speaking, no objection can be raised if it is a working day in BiH. "However, we know that they always pick an extra nuance to harm you in what they do or must do. We are used to that," he said. Petronijević noted that he cannot comment on the content of the BiH Prosecutor’s indictment against General Krstić, nor on other details. "Still, it is very suspicious. Anything for which General Krstić was not convicted by the Tribunal, or which was removed from the indictment, cannot be tried by them," he explained. He also pointed out that in Croatia proceedings continue against former Yugoslav Army Colonel Veselin Šljivančanin, for whom a warrant has been issued, preventing him from visiting his parents’ graves in Montenegro. Petronijević reminded that Šljivančanin’s case in The Hague was fully concluded and that he has been free for years, yet these issues persist. "I do not know how long the consequences of the unfortunate conflict in the former Yugoslavia will last, but it seems these consequences apply only to Serbs, and not to others. It seems this is somehow being used today as a constant burden on the Serbs," Petronijević said. The Court of BiH yesterday confirmed the indictment filed by the BiH Prosecutor's Office against General Radislav Krstić, charging him as commander of the Second Romanija Motorized Brigade with an attack on the Sokolac village of Novoseoci, inhabited by Bosniaks. The indictment refers to events that took place on September 21–22, 1992, at the location Ivan Polje. General Krstić was transferred in April to Estonia, where he continues to serve a 35-year prison sentence imposed by the Hague Tribunal. Krstić was arrested on December 2, 1998, and the following day transferred to the Hague Tribunal. He has repeatedly requested to be released, having served two-thirds of his sentence.