Come in, come in, Ratko, wherever you are

November 18, 2008

The global economic downturn is hitting Serbia hard, so you’d think quite a few Serbs would be interested in the €1m reward that the government is offering to pay for information leading to the arrest of Ratko Mladic. Curiously, however, the trail of the fugitive Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect never seems to get any warmer.

Roughly two months ago, a western government passed a tip to the Serbian government as to Mladic’s whereabouts. A raid was carried out, but the tip turned out to be a dud. Wisely, perhaps, the Serbian authorities chose not to publicise this incident.

In contrast, a police search of a factory in the central Serbian town of Valjevo on November 10 received extensive media coverage, though it led to no better results. This operation took place just a week before Serge Brammertz, the chief United Nations war crimes prosecutor, arrived in Belgrade to prepare his report on how actively Serbia is co-operating with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

If Brammertz’s report is positive, it will strengthen Serbia’s case that the European Union should accept it as an official candidate for membership. In this sense, the Valjevo raid was conveniently timely.

So where is Mladic, and who knows where he is? The former Serbian government, led by Vojislav Kostunica, knew perfectly well where Mladic was until at least January 2005. But Kostunica refused to have him arrested. The former Bosnian Serb military commander then faded from sight. However, he is known to have a heart condition, and in recent years some interesting evidence about the use of certain heart prescription drugs has been picked up in various parts of Serbia.

According to Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s interior minister, “nobody in the world has the impression that the Serbian government is protecting and hiding Mladic”. Western governments would agree, in the sense that they don’t think President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and other ministers are shielding Mladic. However, they suspect that other elements in the Serbian power apparatus do know the whereabouts of Mladic, who is assumed to be guarded by a corps of diehard loyalists.

The ease with which Serbia’s authorities arrested Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb political leader, in July suggests it ought not to be impossible to catch Mladic one day, too - even if he is in a bizarre Karadzic-like disguise. On the other hand, Osama bin Laden is still on the run more than seven years after 9/11 - and the reward for information leading to his capture is up to $25m.

3 Responses to “Come in, come in, Ratko, wherever you are”

Comments

  1. Serbs would turn themselves inn, but being that they are pressumed guilty, thanks to western media and politics,until proven innocent, they are forced to run.

    While terrorists from Kosovo and Croatia get slap on the hand, if that, Serbs surely will be convicted or will die if it is impossible to find the way to convict them. What kind of justice is that?

    Posted by: Lola | November 20th, 2008 at 2:33 am | Report this comment
  2. what Serb in their right mind would turn himself in to a Kangaroo court where your guilt is either assured, or if not, then you can expect to be poisoned in your cell.
    The fact that Albanian terrorist Hasim Thaci was set free after all witnesses against him were murederd shows what a cruel mockery of Justice the Hague really is.

    Posted by: DM | November 22nd, 2008 at 2:30 am | Report this comment
  3. For the record, recent terrorist incursion in Mumbai reminded me of the incursion of Serbian fascists in Sarajevo (Grbavica) back in May 1992 and subsequent bombing and burning of city’s landmarks and vital infrastructure.

    Whether Mladic is caught or not it does not really matter anymore. It is for certain that he will die in a hole somewhere, forced to hide. For someone who would kill for attention, life in hiding and anonymity must be the most gruesome punishment.

    Posted by: Bosnian | November 30th, 2008 at 8:26 pm | Report this comment

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