The Hague's Shadow

So, everything is slowly falling into place. We have lived too long in a country where it wasn’t clear who is on which side of the law, some of the laws were articulated as an insult to justice, some offenses and crimes were protected and recommended, so a lot of the prisoners had to have seemed innocent. We had grown used to depravity and sort of formed a habit of sympathizing with the offenders and prisoners in advance. To help the police was sinful. At the bottom of our ravaged souls, we always perceived the uniformed representatives of the law as the natural enemy. If this newest resident of Central Prison seems to be the real culprit, that should be proof enough that we are on our way to reconciling our differences with the law. Our personal comprehension of justice coincides with the official one here, and we have nothing against it even when state justice is personified by minister Batic. This should be a serious step forward and if we prove capable of organizing a trial for Milosevic, deserving of the greatness of his and our own sins and wrong moves, then all of those defeats wouldn’t have been in vain. 

That trial should reestablish in Serbia, or introduce for the first time, the “spirit of the law”. It should clearly show what an offence and a crime is, what abuse of power is, what a political mistake is, what plundering and theft is, how one recognizes and differentiates it, how guilt is proven and what is punished in what way. There are a lot of reasons and need for this state to do all that it can with regards to that trial. Milosevic’s era was marked by a terrifying lawlessness and the state now has to present its citizens with a decisive break with its “dark past”

One needn’t go so far as to make the judges wear wigs, but one shouldn’t economize with pompousness, pathos, the rigidity of the ceremony and elevation of each detail of the trial. Something totally different to the all-pervading disheveled appearance should be prepared, so that a degree of awe towards the law, court and justice is reestablished amongst the people. 

For now things are moving in the right direction. The arrest turned out to be quite successful, when all circumstances are taken into account. There were political dilemmas, technical difficulties and risks; there was friction between the army and the police, and that bunker contained an explosive combination of weapons, alcohol, insanity, panic, despair, anger and crazy hopes. Milosevic himself took up his favorite heroic pose, which he abandoned at the last moment, as usual. The state top officials conferred for a few hours, which means there was wrangling, but they then came out with a very clear stand in which no trace of hesitation and compromise was apparent. The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) appeared more harmonious and united than ever. Kostunica got a chance to express all of his principles and legalism, although it must have been extremely unpleasant for him that this thing was happening under a US ultimatum, at the last moment of the set deadline.

All the official spokesmen unanimously kept repeating, obviously as had been agreed upon, that it was mere chance, a pure coincidence, which nobody believed. However, this isn’t an ordinary case of the weaker succumbing to the pressure of the stronger. I believe that it will soon be shown that on that meeting an agreement was reached not only for his arrest but also on a refusal of extraditing him to The Hague tribunal. Therefore, a concession was made to Washington only in the sense of abiding by the deadline, but Mrs. del Ponte has been left empty handed, at least for now.

This isn’t exactly what Washington wanted, but after Milosevic’s arrest it simply can’t be said that Belgrade isn’t doing anything and should be punished. The Americans even admitted that, but I see that many western leaders are commending Belgrade’s “first step”, referring to what looks like a “final act” to us. This means there will be additional conditions, that first steps will be talked about for a long time to come, and that our window to the world remains overshadowed with prison bars.

Serbia, therefore, has to wrestle with the demands of The Hague tribunal at the period when outside understanding and support are so needed. One could not find, nor even imagine, another government more turned towards Europe and the West which, however, presents itself to Belgrade mostly in the image of Mrs. del Ponte. As a policy, and there is no doubt that it is a question of policies, The Hague tribunal is practically trying to turn Serbia away from the West, and to make the idea of Europe repulsive to it. Isn’t it paradoxical that it was easier to stand for the European idea in Serbia during all those difficult Milosevic years than it is today, when that idea was supposed to have won? I can’t get it into my head how the world doesn’t understand that Slobodan Milosevic is indispensable for the stability of the new Serbia. Naturally, in jail, properly sentenced.

 Here, and not there. It is true that Serbia is less interested in the things they would question him about in The Hague, but The Hague also wouldn’t ask him anything about Stambolic, Curuvija, election fraud, beaten up students and all those robbed millions. If we were forced to recognize priority of The Hague’s justice, that would definitely be to the disadvantage of domestic justice.

I understand that UN membership obliges us to cooperate with The Hague tribunal, but I feel NATO had made a much greater oversight of the UN back then, and even The Hague tribunal itself overlooked NATO’s culpability. I also understand that one shouldn’t waste too many words on this, but should instead tie its horse where the international community tells you to. However, I fear that a new ultimatum in connection to Milosevic’s extradition, on top of everything else, would bring about a collapse of DOS, in an ugly way, returning us once again to the same boring and pointless patriotic-treason seesaw.