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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Media reports of government knowledge of Mladic’s whereabouts are blatant deception of public

Belgrade, 10 June 2005

Head of the Serbian government’s Office of Media Relations Srdjan Djuric said today that he is convinced that a vast majority of Serbian citizens are satisfied with the fact that the government has resolved and is resolving the issue of cooperation with the Hague tribunal in the best way possible, verified by the international community as the best degree of cooperation.

Srdjan Djuric

Djuric pointed out that an ongoing campaign is causing direct damage to the public interest, because it leaves the impression that Ratko Mladic is definitely in Serbia and that the government knows his whereabouts, or, in other words, the impression that the government knows where Mladic is and that it is doing nothing to see that he goes to The Hague. Djuric stressed that this is a blatant deception of the public, aiming to devalue all the successful work that the government has done so far in cooperating with the Hague tribunal.

When it comes to those accused of war crimes, Djuric recalled that everyone, including the media, are obligated to inform authorities if they are in possession of any information about their whereabouts. In these cases there can be no hiding behind anonymous sources, and all the media that claim to know the whereabouts of war crimes indictees must submit that information to the authorities. Otherwise, those media are either blatantly deceiving the public or are taking part in the sheltering of those indicted for war crimes.

Djuric reiterated that the Serbian government is strongly committed to finalising the cooperation with the Hague tribunal in the best possible way and to meeting all its international obligations, just as it has always done.

He pointed out that irresponsible reporting and sensationalism cause damage to the entire country and he appealed on the media once again to write about this subject based on verified facts only.