YouSaid · the spoken record

President Vučić

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25
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2021-06-08
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2021-06-08
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un-security-council

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  1. “I once again thank the Council very much for listening to me and for giving me an opportunity to intervene. The meeting rose at 5.20 p.m.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  2. “Many Member States were asking us this afternoon and demanding from us to ensure compliance and abide by resolution 1966 (2010). Those words came mainly from those that brutally violated resolution 1244 (1999), which mentions the territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. They started to recognize Kosovo’s independence. That is something that shows those red-herring principles, double standards and everything else. Finally, we will continue to cooperate with the Mechanism and the Office of the Prosecutor. We will fulfil our obligations. But, as the Chinese representative proposed, I ask that the Council try to find some proper solutions and not to humiliate Serbia, but to work together with us to find a partnership relationship. Then I think that would be good, as something good would be done for the benefit for us all.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  3. “They always forget to say that. I am saying this officially to the Council. That is the conclusion of the Croatian Red Cross, not the Red Cross of Serbia. This is just for the Council to know that we are completely ready to deliver everything on missing persons. What we propose to Croats and Albanians as well is that they should find a place in Serbia and let us know they have some doubts regarding the fact that there were some buried people. We will go there, together with them, within 24 hours, excavate the place and bring the truth to the families of those missing persons. We have nothing to hide and will never protect or hide perpetrators of those terrible crimes. That is why I think that the position of the Republic of Serbia is very strong.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  4. “At the same time, those present will notice that there were no responses to the issues that we tackled or the questions that we raised with regard to the fact as to why there were no Croats responsible for the terrible crimes committed against Serbs, not a single one, before the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. There was not a single one — only a few Bosnian Muslims with regard to heinous crimes against Serbs in Bosnia. Of course, I need to say once again that we strongly condemn the atrocities and the crimes committed by our compatriot Serbs. That is the difference between us. I wanted to add one more thing for everyone present this afternoon around this table, that is, the nice rhetoric on missing persons. But the Croatian representative forgot to say that there are more missing Serbs than missing Croats.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  5. “It is not the best politics to criticize and offend one’s own people, but it is up to them. I did not say anything against anyone or any country of our region in my statement, but the Bosnian and Croatian representatives did. The Croatian representative, the head of the delegation, said that it was well known who the devil was. It would be easy for me to reply to him by saying that it is very obvious. There was only one, a very big and one of the largest concentration camps in this region, found in a very small place — Jasenovac. I think that at least everyone knew who the devil was. But we do not need to go that far back in history. I think that we have different opinions on the events of recent history. But, as a matter of fact, we respect their attitudes, although we do not share them.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  6. “President Vučić: I wanted to reply on some issues that were mentioned by delegation representatives during this afternoon’s meeting and to provide a little more information about Serbia’s non-compliance with the requests and demands of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. First of all, I wanted to say that the representative of the Bosnia and Herzegovina delegation said that he was speaking on behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is not true. We all received a letter from the presiding Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, who said that it was not with the real consent of the Bosnian Presidency; it was the private opinion of the representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am not going to go into the details in which he was criticizing Serbs from Bosnia and Bosnian Serb leaders.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  7. “That is why, despite the selective justice that was applied at The Hague Tribunal, we will be open for any dialogue, any kind of cooperation, and we will look towards the future and not towards the past. I have only one message for the citizens of Serbia and the citizens of Serbian nationality in the entire region: keep your heads up; neither Serbia nor Serbian people are convicted of anything. And it is up to us to work even more diligently, to open factories and to fight for our children and our future.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  8. “Nevertheless, we in Serbia will show responsibility and fight for peace, stability and reconciliation in the region. We ask Security Council Member States to help us with a rational and pragmatic approach and respect for international law, and not with attempts at further humiliation of Serbia. Serbia is a small country, with a proud and courageous people, the country that made the biggest sacrifice during the First and Second World Wars — a people who want to leave in peace with their neighbours. And when I am asking for this, I do not think I am asking for too much. Serbia is the fastest-growing country of the Western Balkans region, and we cannot progress unless our relations with neighbours, friends and other countries are good, solid and better.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  9. “Gotovina was sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment in the first-instance procedure, while by a mysterious decision of the second instance Chamber and a ratio of three justices to two, the verdict was changed to acquittal. Naser Orić, tried for crimes against Serbs in Bosnia, was also found guilty in the first-instance verdict, but by a mysterious decision of the second- instance Chamber, and again by a decision of three to two, was acquitted and freed of all liability. Let me reiterate: all witnesses in the trial against Ramuš Haradinaj either committed suicide or were killed under very strange circumstances. In conclusion, I do not want to believe that someone wants to say that there were no crimes against Serbs; but judging by the verdicts at The Hague Tribunal, no one — absolutely no one — is responsible for those crimes.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  10. “At the same time, The Hague Tribunal has not sentenced a single Croat for crimes against Serbs — neither those committed in Operation Medački Džep, nor those committed in Operations Flash and Storm. This was done with great political cunning in the Tribunal, and all wrapped in the formalities of law and justice. Prosecutors of The Hague Tribunal deliberately chose Ante Gotovina, Naser Orić and Ramuš Haradinaj — three military and political leaders of Croats, Bosniac Muslims and Albanians from all of the three aforementioned territories — to try for crimes committed against Serbs. It is interesting that, following the same pattern, this injustice was shared. Specifically, all of them were sentenced in the first-instance procedure, with the exception of Ramuš Haradinaj, because not a single witness survived.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  11. “I say this not because we Serbs do not acknowledge crimes committed by some of our compatriots, but because The Hague Tribunal, with exceptions, has judged only Serbs and in all three territories of the former Yugoslavia — Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo and Metohija — the latter of which some Council members see and name — of course, contrary to law, legal norms and United Nations resolutions — as an independent State. I will try to concretely prove how The Hague’s justice has been tailored, even though I know that it will not be understood by many here, but to me it is important because of the history, facts and school books that will be written in accordance with the facts. Specifically, Serbs have been sentenced to a total of 1,138 years of imprisonment and to 8 life sentences.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  12. “And I want to emphasize once again here, in front of everyone, that Serbia condemns the terrible crime committed in Srebrenica and extends its deepest condolences to the families of all killed in that massacre. And there are no buts in that respect. Nevertheless, we are here to analyse the results and penal policy of the ICTY and the Mechanism, which are such that it has never gained the trust of the Serbian people, no matter where they live.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  13. “Many horrible crimes against Serb civilians that were committed in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and the autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija, and that resulted in ethnic cleansing, simply were not the subject of the interest of the ICTY. What is very important, and in order to leave nothing unclear, is that Serbia is a country that condemns all the crimes and all criminals who perpetrated them in the region of the former Yugoslavia. However, it is interesting that, despite frequent criticism, Serbia is the only country that speaks openly and condemns crimes perpetrated by Serb nationals, while in other regional countries they do not speak at all about crimes that representatives of those nations committed against members of Serbian people.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  14. “It does no harm to underline the fact that high-level officers and politicians have not been tried for crimes against Serbs and that crimes against Serbs remain unsanctioned by the ICTY and the Mechanism. Let me recall, just as an example, that the case of Prosecutor v. Rahim Ademi and Mirko Norac, concerning ferocious crimes against Serb civilians in Medački Džep, was left to Croatian justice institutions. Proven crimes against Serbs, like those of Haradinaj, Orić, Gotovina and others indicted for participating in the military Operation Storm, which led to the complete ethnic cleansing of the Serb population in the larger part of today’s Croatia, resulted in acquittals before the ICTY.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  15. “In previous practice, 13 cases were transferred to Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2 to Croatia and only 1 to Serbia. Last but not least, I want to remind everyone here of the fact that France — of course, as a sovereign and independent country — on being requested to apprehend and extradite Florence Hartmann for publishing documents and contempt of court, refused the request for extradition, with the explanation that it does not extradite its citizens. For far smaller offences, the Council asks us to extradite our citizens Jojić and Radeta, showing both its mistrust of Serbian justice, the Serbian judiciary and the Serbian State, and the fact that the rule from ancient Rome — quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi — remains valid.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  16. “Additionally, the Republic of Serbia fully recognizes and accepts the obligation of the Mechanism to monitor trials that have been transferred to national courts, with the help of international and regional organizations, as well as to take measures envisaged in article 6 of the statute of the Mechanism. I recall here that the Republic of Serbia has extradited to the Tribunal all persons indicted by the Prosecutor’s Office, including a large number of the highest-ranking political, military and police officials; it has enabled the presence of a vast number of witnesses and delivered extensive documentation. The obligation of the Mechanism, in accordance with the resolution of this Security Council, is to take measures that enable the transfer of cases to national justice systems.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  17. “I recall here that the first decision of a single judge — Aydin Sefa Akay, on 12 June 2018 — who was acting in this case was that the criminal prosecution of Vjerica Radeta and Petar Jojić for alleged contempt of court was to be forwarded to the judicial authorities of the Republic of Serbia. In procedures that followed, the argument concerning the alleged unwillingness of the witnesses to cooperate with the judicial authorities of the Republic of Serbia was raised for the first time, and the decision to prevent the transfer of the case to the jurisdiction of the judicial authorities of the Republic of Serbia was based on that argument. The Republic of Serbia expressed its readiness to take over the court procedure against Petar Jojić and Vjerica Radeta on several occasions and provided appropriate guarantees.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  18. “Judge Agius stated that Serbia was ignoring its obligations in accordance with resolution 1966 (2010). Quite the opposite — the Republic of Serbia takes seriously its obligations regarding cooperation with the Mechanism. After the warrant for the apprehension and extradition of the two persons accused of contempt of court to the Mechanism had been introduced, the Higher Court in Belgrade established that assumptions for their apprehension and extradition to the Mechanism had not been met. The decision is founded on the rules of international law and domestic law of the Republic of Serbia, and it is mandatory for holders of the executive power in the Republic of Serbia.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  19. “The point of the argumentation of the President of the Mechanism is that the Republic of Serbia has the obligation to deprive of liberty and extradite to the Mechanism its citizens accused of contempt of court — I repeat, contempt of court — regardless of the nature of the accusation, the circumstances under which such an order was made and the consequences that might result from its implementation. It is about accusations that do not refer to severe violations of international humanitarian law and that are related to a case before the ICTY that ended in 2018 — the case of Prosecutor v. Vojislav Šešelj— by acquitting the defendant in the first instance. Upon the Prosecutor’s complaint, the defendant was declared guilty and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, which were covered by the time he spent in the United Nations Detention Unit.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  20. “Apart from the regular report, on 11 May the President of the Mechanism, Judge Agius, also delivered a letter (S/2021/452) to the President of the Security Council, whose subject was the alleged failure of the Republic of Serbia to apprehend and turn over to the Mechanism Petar Jojić and Vjerica Radeta, indicted for contempt of court, claiming that in this way the Republic of Serbia was acting contrary to its obligations under resolution 1966 (2010) and asking the Security Council to take measures to ensure that Serbia meets its alleged obligations in accordance with the Mechanism statue and resolution 1966 (2010).”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  21. “I urge the Mechanism and the Security Council to prevent attempts to violate the principle of non bis in idem — a civilizational principle that is confirmed in article 7 of the statute of the Mechanism — and to disable retrials for persons already convicted by the ICTY, particularly in order to make sure that it is not done in the territory that is under interim United Nations administration.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  22. “A particular problem that we are facing is disturbances created by the judicial institutions established in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, which is within Serbia and which is under the interim administration of the United Nations. We have been witness to attempts to retry two citizens who are serving prison sentences for which they had already been tried before the ICTY. More concretely, in the recent past there was an attempt to hear the case of Nebojša Pavković and to obtain the extradition of Vlastimir Đorđević.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  23. “The majority of persons who are serving prison sentences are citizens of the Republic of Serbia, and it is natural that the Republic of Serbia should be interested in enabling them to serve their prison sentences in the Republic of Serbia. The ICTY and the Mechanism have made references to the Security Council as an institution in charge of dealing with this issue. I am ready to reiterate here the readiness of the Republic of Serbia to assume obligations and liability for executing prison sentences that the Tribunal or the Mechanism have handed down to the citizens of the Republic of Serbia, under the monitoring of the Mechanism and with full respect for the authority of the Mechanism regarding early release.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  24. “The third part of my speech — and in that regard I take note of many statements delivered here today — is going to be the view of Serbia on everything that has taken place in The Hague Tribunal and what the Tribunal verdicts have brought to people in the region of the former Yugoslavia. The Republic of Serbia has raised before the Security Council, on several occasions, the issue of the possibility of detainees serving sentences handed down by the ICTY and the Mechanism in the Republic of Serbia. Despite the effort to move this issue from square one, not a single response has been received from the Security Council.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source

  25. “President Vučić: I shall point to a few ongoing issues in my speech that refer to the competences of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, namely, the possibility of detainees serving the sentences passed by the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Mechanism in the Republic of Serbia, with the current practice of disabling the early release of the sentenced persons, as well as the obligation of the Mechanism regarding the protection of sentenced persons. The second part of the speech will be dedicated to issues that are raised by the six–month report on the work of the Mechanism, as presented by Mechanism President Mr. Agius, and the briefing by Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz, especially regarding the current cooperation of the Republic of Serbia and the Mechanism.”

    2021-06-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8790 (2021) · source