On the occasion of the shameful verdict issued by the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) against the former spokesmen for the ICTY, the current International Expert Team Member of the Institute for Research of Genocide Canada (IRGC), and the recipient of the 2010 CNAB Award, Florence Hartmann, IRGC and the Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB) would like to jointly issue the following press release.
Florence Hartmann has been charged by the ICTY because she has released two confidential pieces of information from the ICTY during the criminal proceedings against Slobodan Milosevic. She made the confidential information available in her book “Peace and Punishment” and the article “Hidden key evidence of genocide”, published by the Bosnian Institute in London, United Kingdom. After her departure from office, Florence Hartmann uncovered that the court and the ICTY Appeals Chamber, in the Slobodan Milosevic case approved a government request that the Supreme Defence Council during the Milosevic trial maintains a confidential status to protect the national interests of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia later used this to prevent the release of these records in proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for genocide, which directly reflected in the negative result of the verdict and challenged the genocide on the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is not fair, ethical nor moral for the ICTY Appeals Chamber to condemn Florence Hartmann due to the fact that she had publicly disclosed the truth of the secret documents related to the involvement of the highest state and military leadership in Yugoslavia for genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1992-1995 aggression.
IRGC and CNAB wonder whether any of the responsible for the confidential documents will be prosecuted. These documents directly incriminate the highest state and military leaders of Serbia and Montenegro for the crime of aggression and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina. When asked why she wrote the book ¨ Peace and Punishment and the article ¨ the hidden key documents about the genocide ‘, Florence Hartmann said:
“For me, this is an issue of freedom of speech and the right to transparently inform the public about what is a matter of public interest. It cannot be said that international justice is not a matter of public interest – it is, in fact, a matter of humanity. “Five judges of the ICTY Appeals Chamber willingly become accomplices to manipulate the authorities in Belgrade with the sole aim to encourage the other judicial body, the ICJ, to make the same mistake, because there is no access to documents.”
Florence Hartman’s intention was based on events, facts and documents describing the struggle that the ICTY had between the interests of justice and politics. IRGC and CNAB would like to thank Florence Hartmann in her fight for truth about the crimes of aggression against Bosnia, genocide against Bosniaks and for justice for the victims of these crimes.
Prof. Emir Ramić, President
Institute for the Research of Genocide Canada (IRGC)
http://www.instituteforgenocide.ca/
Haris Alibašić, MPA, President
The Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB)
