Minister of Justice Maja Popovic said last night at the UN Security Council session that Serbia pursues a responsible policy of reconciliation in the region, without which there is no future, stability, economic development and normalisation.
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Minister of Justice Maja Popovic said last night at the UN Security Council session that Serbia pursues a responsible policy of reconciliation in the region, without which there is no future, stability, economic development and normalisation.
Speaking at a session dedicated to the six-month report on the work of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, Popovic said that the Prosecutor's Office of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia had completely failed to investigate and try crimes committed against Serbs and non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, thereby significantly undermining the reputation and trust of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the Mechanism.
The Minister emphasised that all references to the so-called Kosovo should be understood in full compliance with Security Council Resolution 1244 and that it is the obligation of all participants in the prosecution of war crimes and cooperation in the fight against crime to act in full compliance with this document.
Regarding the Mechanism's Prosecutor's Office's stalemate in the negotiations between Serbia and Croatia on concluding an agreement on establishing a framework for processing war crimes, Popovic noted that this is a bilateral issue that is not within the exclusive competence of the Mechanism or of special interest.
The Minister conveyed that the agreement was not concluded because Croatia insisted on the abolition of universal jurisdiction in the legal system of Serbia.
She emphasised that Serbia has made efforts to deepen cooperation with Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in this area, stating that every crime must be adequately punished, regardless of who committed it.
Popovic pointed out that it is necessary for the countries in the region to take the same steps, because for now, Serbia is the only one that sincerely offers a hand of reconciliation.
Popovic reiterated Serbia's request and readiness for prison sentences handed down by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals to be carried out in Serbia, under the supervision of the Mechanism.
The Minister also opposed the practice of long-term non-decision-making of the Mechanism on requests for early release of Serbian citizens, emphasising that non-decision on requests flagrantly violates their basic human rights.
She noted that in the reporting period, the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's Office actively cooperated with the Mechanism's Prosecutor's Office, and in addition to regular high-level meetings, cooperation was achieved in specific cases against two high-ranking officials, which resulted in indictments and investigations. in other case.
During this period, as she said, a working group composed of representatives of the Mechanism and the Prosecutor's Office for War Crimes of Serbia was formed, in order to improve cooperation in specific cases, especially in terms of providing evidence.