 THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Chief war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte suggested Friday the European Union take over financing of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal if the United Nations cuts off funds before the court can bring its most-wanted fugitives to trial. Del Ponte said Europeans have a responsibility to keep the tribunal going because its two most-wanted men, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and former army chief Gen. Ratko Mladic, are believed to be hiding with the help of Serbian officials or supporters.
| And she's still hoping to convict someone, someday. |
The Yugoslav tribunal - created in 1993 by the U.N. Security Council to prosecute suspected war criminals in the Balkan wars - has been asked by the United Nations to start its final trials no later than the end of 2008. The U.N. allocates more than $300 million a year for the tribunal's operations.
| “The U.N. allocates more than $300 million a year for the tribunal's operations.” |
| $300 mil a year and not one big shot jugged. Sounds like the U.N., doesn't it? |
Del Ponte said the deadline set by the U.N. should "not allow persons accused of the worst crimes in the history of mankind to escape justice." She made the comments in a speech in Helsinki, Finland, that was distributed by the court.
| How about letting someone else run the show? I bet even Patrick Fitzgerald could be more productive. |
The Security Council is likely to decide next year whether to let the tribunal continue if necessary, but Russia was likely to veto an extension, she said. If that happens, accused war criminals may get "a passport to impunity."
| Unlike today, where they have a visa to snicker at you. |
The tribunal has indicted 161 people, with Serb defendants outnumbering other ethnic groups. Serbs often accuse the court of being biased against them.
| “The tribunal has indicted 161 people, with Serb defendants outnumbering other ethnic groups.” |
| 161 indicted and not one bigshot convicted. Nice record, Carla. |
Mladic and Karadzic were both indicted in 1995 on charges of orchestrating the massacre of some 8,000 Muslims in the U.N. enclave of Srebrenica - Europe's worst carnage since World War II. Belgrade's failure to capture Mladic has led to suspension of its pre-entry talks with the European Union. Serbia has maintained it has been unable to locate him. Del Ponte has said that Karadzic is believed to be hiding in the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia.
| Brilliant, Carla, how do you do it? |
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