Magazinovic in Strasbourg: Serbia cannot earn trust while protecting war criminals

According to a statement from the caucus of the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Magazinovic spoke exactly one year ago about the fact that Serbia is sheltering convicted war criminal Novak Djukic, who represents a symbol of impunity that encourages future criminals to believe they too can avoid punishment.

At that time, he said that the families of those killed at the Tuzla massacre were not seeking revenge but justice, and that Serbia has for years provided refuge to convicted and accused war criminals. He called on the Council of Europe to condemn this practice and demand that every war criminal be punished.

One year later, in a document set to be adopted today, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe calls on Serbian authorities to demonstrate genuine commitment to prosecuting and trying war crimes cases and to finally appoint a chief public prosecutor for war crimes. It also specifically notes that Serbian authorities continue to publicly challenge the rulings of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

In his speech, Magazinovic will emphasize that Serbia’s failure to extradite convicted war criminals and war crimes suspects to other countries in the region remains another obstacle in the fight against impunity, a point also included in the document before lawmakers in Strasbourg.

In addition, he said, clearly addressing Serbian authorities over the unacceptable tolerance of murals glorifying war criminals - of which there are more than 300 in Serbia - sends an important message that a country cannot seek European credibility while simultaneously questioning the rulings of international courts.

Magazinovic believes that as long as Serbia remains a refuge for war criminals and avoids confronting crimes committed in the 1990s, it cannot speak credibly about regional cooperation.

He will call on the Council of Europe to further strengthen monitoring mechanisms regarding Serbia’s attitude toward international court rulings and its protection of convicted war criminals and war crimes suspects, the statement said.