[In order to move from the General to the Particular in the Defense of ALL Political Prisoners and POWs, The Committee presents the case of the brutal attack against General Radislav Krstic, an officer in the Yugoslav Army (renamed the Bosnian Serb Army) who, in 2001, was found guilty by the ICTY of 'the 1995 genocide at Srebrenica.’
The Krstic ‘genocide conviction,' the first and only such conviction yet achieved by the ICTY, is based on plea-bargained testimony from threatened co-defendant against an accused whose infirmity (he'd recently lost a leg and was heavily medicated) made it realistically impossible for him effectively to take part in his own trial.
This case caused the Tribunal's Appeals Chamber, and the ICTY and ICTR are in the habit of amending the rules of procedure with most disturbing frequency, to redefine the Trial Chamber's (evidence-lite) judgment on Krstic—who was born in 1948, had a 46 year sentence cynically reduced to 35 years.
This finding is as humbug a piece of judicial chicanery as any that this Kangaroo court (that the Kangaroos would despise) has yet come up with. Zivadin Jovanovic, President of the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals, first informed us of the bloody attack on General Krstic by a trio of Muslims in the Britain's Wakefield prison (predominantly for sex criminals). With the trial of Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic beginning to heat up, it is not much of a stretch to see political motives for this attack lurking just beneath the tired suggestion of retribution for a 15- year-old mythic mass murder.
Our friends, the noted journalists Diana Johnstone and David Peterson, formed a petition, which almost instantaneously collected huge support, and transformed it into the Open Letter we have posted here.
It seems quite appropriate that General Krstic be the first individual Political Prisoner defended by The Committee.]
Voices of Concern for the Treatment of International Political Prisoners
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Press Release May 19, 2010
Today, May 19, the following Open Letter has been sent to the honorable Kenneth Clarke, Lord High Chancellor, United Kingdom.
It expresses the genuine indignation of over a hundred citizens of various countries who signed it within a mere 48 hours. [1]
OPEN LETTER
Voices of Concern for the Treatment of International Political Prisoners
As of May 19, 2010, over 100 persons from several countries have signed the following petition:
The vicious May 7 attack on General Radislav Krstic in Wakefield Prison (U.K.) is a dramatic illustration of the failure to ensure the safety of the prisoners of international tribunals.
A Serb native of Bosnia, General Krstic was sentenced to 35 years in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for complicity in 1995 Srebrenica massacres, although it is acknowledged that he was not directly involved in criminal executions. General Krstic repeatedly denied any knowledge of the massacres at the time, and his sentence is regarded as excessive and politically motivated by many informed observers who believe the case should be reopened.
On May 7, General Krstic was physically assaulted by three inmates identified as "Muslims." A 22-year-old ethnic Albanian named Indrit Krasniqi is reported to have slit the throat of General Krstic, narrowly missing the jugular.
Krasniqi was serving a life sentence under British law for the gang torture and murder of a 16-year-old girl. Wakefield Prison, in the north of England, is reserved especially for criminals serving long sentences for grave sex offenses.
We find it highly irresponsible of British authorities to incarcerate General Krstic, essentially a prisoner of war, in such an environment. Now 62 years old, General Krstic is disabled, having lost a leg in the Bosnian war. There is an obvious risk in imprisoning a Bosnian Serb accused of grave crimes against Muslims in a region of England with a particularly large Muslim population. The claim that the attack was motivated by "Muslim revenge" serves as a smokescreen to cover the responsibility of British authorities.
The near-fatal attack on General Krstic comes in the wake of an extraordinary series of deaths of prisoners held by the International Criminal Tribunals for former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda.
We, the undersigned, demand:
· An official inquiry into the May 7 incident.
· The immediate transfer of General Krstic to a country able to ensure his personal safety, for example to Norway, or to Serbia as requested by Belgrade authorities.
· An end to the indifference of governments, human rights organizations and the media to the fate of prisoners of ad hoc criminal tribunals, often exaggeratedly stigmatized by the media and without the benefits of the protection afforded by judicial process in normal national courts.
Samir Amin
Author, Director of the Third World Forum
Dakar, Senegal
Dragomir Andjelkovic
Historian
Belgrade, Serbia
Miroslav Antic
Nuclear Operator
Toronto, Canada
Dr. Patrick Barriot, MD
Colonel (CR), Former Blue Helmet in ex-Yugoslavia
France
Ariana Beatty
London, United Kingdom
Zeljko Bibic
(British Citizen)
Fairfax, VA United States
David Binder
Retired Newspaperman
Evanston, Illinois
Ambassador James Bissett
Ottawa, Canada
Christopher Black
Barrister, International Criminal Lawyer
Lead Counsel at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Canada
Jeffrey Blankfort
Journalist, Radio Producer
Ukiah, CA United States
William Blum
Author
Washington, DC, United States
George Bogdanich
Writer and Documentary Filmmaker
New York, NY, United States
Boba Borojevic
Director - Producer, "Monday's Encounter" Radio Program
Ottawa, Canada
Vincenzo Brandi
Engineer
Rome, Italy
Barbara P. Bresler
Retired
Bridgeport, CT, United States
Jean Bricmont
Physicist
Brussels, Belgium
Vladimir Caller
Peruvian Journalist
Brussels
Mick Collins
Editor, CirqueMinime/Paris
France
Louis Dalmas
Editor, B.I. Magazine
Paris, France
Olga Daric
Professor of Modern Languages
Paris, France
Dusan Djordjevich
Technical Writer
San Mateo, California
(U.S. Native)
Biljana Djorovic
Journalist
Belgrade, Serbia
Djordje Djorovic
Student (School of Medicine)
Belgrade, Serbia
Miodrag Dordevic
Retired Engineer
Verrieres, France
Zvonimir Dorovic
Graduate Electrical Engineer
Belgrade, Serbia
Dusan Dragic
Hartsdale, NY United States
Richard B. Du Boff
Economic Historian and Writer
Rhinebeck, NY United States
Françoise Dufour
Retired Teacher
Paris, France
Martine Duplaine
Paris, France
Prof. Peter Erlinder
William Mitchell College of Law
Lead Counsel at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
United States
Vesna Farnden
Real Estate Agent
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
Sara Flounders
Co-Director, International Action Center
New York, NY, United States
Jane Franklin
Historian
United States
Wade Frazier
Accountant
Bothell, WA, United States
Darlene Gakovich
Madison, WI, United States
Antonio Ginetti
Artist
Pistoia, Italy
Andrej Glisic
Journalist and Economist
Retired Yugoslavia National Army Officer
Pancevo, Serbia
Ilija Glisic
Manager in the Telecommunications Industry
Sydney, Australia
Joachim Guilliard
Journalist, Forum against Militarism and War
Heidelberg, Germany
Dr. Jelena Guskova
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Head of the Research Centre for Contemporary Balkan Crises,
Slavic Department at the Russian Academy of Sciences
Moscow, Russia
Dr. Philip Hammond
London South Bank University
London, United Kingdom
Klaus Hartmann
Vice President of World Union of Freethinkers
Offenback am Main, Germany
Ralph Hartmann
Author, Former East German Ambassador to Yugoslavia
Berlin, Germany
Edward S. Herman
Professor Emeritus of Finance
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, United States
Marc W. Herold
Deptartment of Economics
University of New Hampshire
Durham, N.H., United States
Frances G. Hoenigswald
Invoice Clerk, Biddle Law Library
University of Pennsylvania Law School
Philadelphia, PA, United States
Mirko Ivancevic
Valley Village, CA, United States
(Canadian Citizen)
Ms. N. Jakovac
Artist
Toronto, Ontario Canada
Finn S. Jensen
Teacher
Odense, Denmark
Branka Josilo-Perry
France
Gordana Jovanovic
Professor of Psychology
Belgrade, Serbia
Nebojša Jovanovic
Bor, Serbia
Diana Johnstone
Journalist, Author
Paris, France
Slavoljub Kacarevic
Journalist
Belgrade, Serbia
Hans-Joachim Kahlke
Jurist
Heidelberg, Germany
Harald Kampffmeyer
Diplomat
Berlin, Germany
Stefan Karganovic
President, Srebrenica Historical Project
Belgium
June Kelly-Mullingar
County Westmeath, Ireland
Mara Kneževic Kern
Journalist and Writer
Beograd, Serbia
Jugoslav Kiprijanovic
Editor, Pravoslavlje (The official Magazine of Serbian Orthodox Church)
The Serbian Patriarchy
Belgrade, Serbia
Prof. Dr. Hans Köchler
University of Innsbruck
President, International Progress Organization
Vienna, Austria
Dragoslava Koprivica
Father Milun Kostic
Serbian Orthodox Priest
London, United Kingdom
Joel Kovel
Editor, Capitalism Nature Socialism
New York, NY, United States
Vladimir Krsljanin
Former Ambassador
Belgrade, Serbia
Beatrice Lacoste
Freelance Media Crisis Consultant
France
Dr. Donka Lange
Farstar Medical GmbH
Barsbüttel (bei Hamburg), Germany
Alessandro Lattanzio
Graphic Operator
Sicily, Italy
Stephen Lendman
Independent Journalist
Chicago, United States
Andrew Levine
University Professor
Denton, MD, United States
Godfred Louis-Jensen
Architect
Oktokerbevaegelsen, Denmark
Milanka Jevric
Ontario, Canada.
Dr. Giovanni Maccione
Teacher
Bari, Italy
J.P. Maher
University Professor
Chicago, United States
Nebojsa Malic
Balkans Columnist, Antiwar.com
Washington, DC United States
Bogdan Manojlovic
Writer
Paris, France
Sarah Martin
Women Against Military Madness (WAMM)
International Committee
Minneapolis, MN United States
David McReynolds
Former Chair of War Resisters International
Former Co-chair of the Socialist Party USA.
New York, NY, United States
Maya Milankovic-Atkinson
United Kingdom
Elizabeth Milanovich
Canada
Minja Milojkovic
Professor
Montreal, Canada
Radmila Nastic
University of Kragujevac
Serbia
Miroslava Ness
Landenberg, PA, United States
Norman Ness
Professor Emeritus, University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware, United States
Ljiljana Nikolic
Mihajlo Nikolic
Miodrag Nikolic
Slobodanka Nikolic
Canoga Park, CA United States
Jan Oberg, PhD
Peace and Future Researcher
Director, Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research
Lund, Sweden
Audun Øfsti
Professor Emeritus, Philosophy
NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Dimitri Oram
Writer and Researcher
Northampton, MA, United States
Thalia Pandiri
Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature
Smith College
Editor-in-Chief, Metamorphoses
Northampton, MA, United States
Michael Parenti, Ph.D.
Author, Lecturer
Berkeley, California, United States
Andrej Pavlovic
Belgrade, Serbia
Dragan Pavlovic, MD
Research Director
Paris, France
Drago Pejatovic
Washington, D.C., United States
Rev. Fr. Miodrag Peric
Dean of St. Lazarus Serbian Orthodox Church
Sydney, NSW, Australia
David Peterson
Writer and Researcher
Chicago, United States
Prof. Dr. Natasa Petronijevic
Institute of Biochemistry
School of Medicine, University of Belgrade
Bob Petrovich
Canada
Marie-Françoise Philippart
Retired
Seine Saint Denis, France
Peter Phillips
Professor Sociology, Sonoma State University
Citizen living in Northern California, United States
Rostislav V. Polchaninoff
Writer (Retired)
New Hyde Park, NY, United States
Anna J. Pullinger
Executive Assistant
Walnut Creek, CA United States
Doris Pumphrey
Berlin, Germany
George Pumphrey
Berlin, Germany
Marija Radmanovic
Sports Massage Therapist and full time university student
Sydney, Australia
Dragomir Radojkovic
Professional Engineer
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Richter
President of the European Peace Forum
Chairman of the Association for the Protection of Civil Rights and Human Dignity
Berlin, Germany
Robert Rodvik
Researcher in Political Studies
Gibsons, BC, Canada
Rick Rozoff
Chicago, United States
Rainer Rupp
Journalist
Saarburg, Germany
Mirjana Sasich
Retired Teacher
Milwaukee, WI, United States
Dr. Michael Schiffmann
Linguistics and Cultural Studies in the English Department
University of Heidelberg, Germany
Cathrin Schütz
Political Scientist, Journalist
Germany
Ljiljana Bogoeva Sedlar
Belgrade, Serbia
Michael Allan Slaughter
Pacifica, CA, United States
Lee W. Smith
Security Consultant (Retired)
Red Cliff, Colorado, United States
Michael Steven Smith
Co-host, "Law and Disorder" Radio Show, WBAI
Board of Directors, Center for Constitutional Rights
United States
John Steppling
Theatre and Film Artist
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Nikola Stojiljkovic
Vranje, Serbia
Eckart Spoo
Berlin, Germany
Zorica Surla
Teacher
Bad Soden, Germany
Tony Sutton
Editor, ColdType
Georgetown, Ontario, Canada
George Szamuely
Writer
New York, NY, United States
Srdja Tatic
Graphic Designer
St. Gallen, Switzerland
Mark Lewis Taylor
Professor, Religion and Society
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, NJ, United States
Phil Taylor
Broadcaster, "The Taylor Report," CIUT
Toronto, Canada
Nadja Tešich
Writer, Filmmaker
New York, NY, United States
Taki Theodoracopulos
Journalist
123 East 71st Street
New York, NY, United States
Angie Tibbs
Canada
Gorica Trkulja
Economist
Prokuplje, Serbia
Prof. Dr. Velko Valkanov
Chairman of the Bulgarian Peace Council
Jacques Vergès
Lawyer
Paris, France
Enrico Vigna
Speaker for Belgrade Forum Italy
President of SOS Yugoslavia - SOS Kosovo Metohija Solidarity Association
Italy
Jean Toschi Marazzani Visconti
Journalist
Milan, Italy
Vera Vratuša
Sociology Professor
Belgrade, Serbia
Dr. Friedrich Wolff
Lawyer
Wandlitz, Germany
Mihail Yambaev
Ph.D. in History
Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Jane Zahn
Heidelberg, Germany
Nikola Zivkovic
Writer
Berlin, Germany
[1] As of Thursday, May 27, 2010, a total of 140 citizens of various countries had added their signatures to this Open Letter. -- The complete list through May 27 appears above.
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