The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 29 November to 2 December 2021.
Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates with a focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia . Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 29 November 2021
The Bosnian state court acquitted five former Bosnian Serb police officers of involvement in the Srebrenica genocide in July 1995 due to lack of evidence. “The prosecution has not proved that the defendants had the intent to commit extermination,” said the presiding judge, in this case, Minka Kreho. The Full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 30 November 2021
The remains of at least ten people, suspected to be victims of the 1991-95 conflict in Croatia, were found buried at a landfill near the town of Vukovar. “We will know more details when the remains are analysed at the Department for Forensic Medicine in Zagreb where the remains will be taken for further analysis, as well as DNA analysis after the exhumation,” the Veterans’ Ministry said in a written response. The Full article can be found here.
Serbia – 30 November 2021
The UN’s Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague has rejected an application for early release from prison from former Serbian Interior Ministry official Vlastimir Djordjevic. The Full article can be found here.
Montenegro – 1 December 2021
Montenegro’s prosecution and watchdog organisations criticised the government’s proposed amendments to the Law on Confiscation of Proceeds of Crime, warning that the judiciary might not have the capacity to implement them. The full article can be found here.
Croatia – 1 December 2021
Human rights activists have urged the Croatian government to take a more serious approach to violence prevention and protection of women – and classify femicides as premeditated murders connected with hate crimes towards women. The full article can be found here.
Serbia – 2 December 2021
Belgrade Higher Court will deliver its verdict in the retrial of four men accused of involvement of killing renowned Serbian journalist Slavko Curuvija. Curuvija was one of several victims of political assassination during the rule of Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s and the second journalist to be killed. The full article can be found here.
Kosovo – 2 December 2021
The Court of Appeals in Pristina upheld the verdict sentencing former police officer Zlatan Krstic to 14-and-a-half years in prison and former police inspector Destan Shabanaj to seven years for their roles in a deadly attack on Kosovo Albanian civilians during the war. The Full article can be found here.
Western Balkan – 2 December 2021
The UK has appointed a military figure as Special Envoy to Western Balkans, at a time when British PM Boris Johnson says the region is "experiencing the biggest threat to stability and security in over two decades”. The Full article can be found here.
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