Speaking at a conference dedicated to the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and orgainised by the European Policy Centre (EPC), Jan Truszczynski, deputy director-general of the European Commission's enlargement directorate, said the likelihood of Mladic and Hadzic being convicted was "pretty high". He claimed the information was based on reports received by the Commission from the Serbian government.
This information coincides with Serbian press reports of a massive manhunt for Mladic. Rasim Ljajic, president of the Serbian National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, said in Belgrade that search operations would continue in the days and weeks to come "until we get Mladic".
"I believe that Brammertz will state that the political will exists in Serbia to complete cooperation with the tribunal because he has seen for himself the seriousness of the actions that we've undertaken," Ljajic was quoted as saying. He indicated that a search was also underway for Goran Hadzic, but hinted that looking for Mladic was the priority.
But not all speakers at the Brussels event were as optimistic about the likelihood of seeing the most wanted war criminals brought to justice. Natasa Kandic, founder and executive director of the Humanitarian Law Centre in Belgrade, expressed her scepticism as to the ability of the Serbian government to arrest Mladic. Moreover, she lamented that as a result of the future phase-out of the Hague tribunal, judges were already seeking other employment.
Kandic also called for the establishment of a "regional commission" to deal with war crimes after the ICTY had ceased to exist. She said carrying out further investigations, organising public hearings and restoring victims' dignity should rank high among its duties.
"We don't use the word 'reconciliation' in the region: we use 'accountability' and 'justice'," she stated.
Mladic to be tried in the Hague
But Fausto Pocar, a judge at the ICTY's appeals chamber, said the Hague tribunal should be allowed to conclude trials in the correct manner no matter how long it took. He argued that even if Mladic and Hadzic were arrested after the end of the tribunal's operations, the ICTY should be able to conduct residual cases. He strongly objected to the view that high ranking perpetrators could be tried in the Western Balkan region.
Pocar lamented that in many parts of the former Yugoslavia, sites where atrocities were committed had been transformed so as to destroy all memories of the past. He claimed that victims' relatives were systematically not allowed to leave any indication of what had happened there.
