Just turned off my TV half an hour ago. A Dutch military helicopter carrying Slobodan Milosevic landed in the court yard of the Scheveningen based prison used for prisoners of the Yugoslavia Tribunal in The Hague.
Just thought it was some good news for a change. Let’s hope they’ll be able to lock this bastard up for a LONG time.
After yesterday’s debate about war memorials, I couldn’t have hoped for better news than this (sad, though, that he’s being handed over to secure foreign aid rather than because extraditing him is the “right” thing to do).
I hope, that like Hess, they lock him up somewhere alone, for life, so he can ponder the enormity of his crimes day in day out.
Dammit. Weed, hookers, and now Slobodan. You Dutch people get to have all the fun.
Coldie, I’m glad to hear that. Really glad.
I’ll just take a moment of seriousness to say that this bastard is the reason I don’t have my fiancé anymore. He was from Zagreb, and was studying in Montreal… he went home when his father died, to help his disabled mother. He was supposed to take them out of the country, hopefully, and come back to Canada. One day he was walking back from picking up his young sister, and walked on a landmine. He died a few days later.
I still haven’t quite recovered.
I hope justice will run its course.
Elly
Wow.
Elly, I’m so sorry to hear that.
It just goes to show how many peoples lives this asshole affected. Even on the other side of the world.
Strainger: to clarify, the Yugoslavia Tribunal isn’t a Dutch entity per se. It is a special committee of the International Court of Justice (IIRC, I must say), which happens to be located in The Hague. For this reason, our constitution was ammended. Now, we’re able to designate assigned locations that are on Dutch soil as “neutral” and/or “international” territory. The building of the ICoJ is one of those places. This particular aspect of our constitution also allowed the Lockerbie Court Case to take place in the Netherlands last year: an old gymnasium was declared neutral, and the trial could take place under Scottish Law. Funny, when you think of it, but it’s a blessing that there is such a possibility, isn’t it?
I also lost my fiance due to Slobodan Milosevic. Not in the way that Elly did, though - I am so very sorry for your loss.
My ex is a member of the Canadian Military. He was shipped over to the Serbian Federation to do peacekeeping duty. While he was gone, we split up. I am certain that it was just him not being able to handle the separation that caused the break-up more than anything else.
I hope they string him up. He’s a monster.
Ginger, Coldfire, thank you.
All losses are tragic - and this man’s actions are beyond deplorable. He has broken many lives, directly and indirectly, to his own people, and to those who came to help.
I’m sorry about the turn of events, GingerOfTheNorth. These types of situations tend to break up relationships and estrange lovers. When you face atrocities on a daily basis, it can’t do anything BUT change who you are, and how you see the world. For some, the change is an awakening. For others, the complete opposite. No one really can tell how they will be affected.
I still grieve the loss of Zoran, but I keep reminding myself that there’s nothing I could really have done. I wish I had been there, yes. I wish I had begged him not to go - but then, how could I? His family needed him, far more than I did at the time.
Hopefully justice will see its course through, and hand down what is… well… just.
In the end, we’re all the same. We all have the potential to be mean and cruel, and evil. The question that remains is how are we going to teach the next generation not to make the same mistakes, and not to raise their own power-hungry tyrants?
We’ve not found the answer yet, and I’m sure the question has been asked for millenia.
With warmest regards to all,
Elly.
Not to make light of the situation but… Slobodan. Slobodan? Slobodan! What a horrible name. I bet kids called him “Slobby Dan” and there were multiple unsubstantiated rumors that he drooled.
–Tim
I believe he’s the closest thing we have see to Hitler since Pol Pot, if not he’s definitely in the same league. Organized ethnic cleansing is unforgivable.
Thanks for the thread. My grandparents were from Croatia. When they left, their country was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. They became Yugoslav-Americans some years later and didn’t live to see their area become the country of Croatia.
Tbey had a love-hate relationship with Tito. On one hand, he stopped the centuries-old animosity between the countries that made up Yugoslavia, on the other he was just another brutal dictator. They were great new-Americans; embraced the country, the language, education, diversity, etc., but always admonished us as kids to dislike Serbs. We just nodded - what the hell were Serbs? They would have detested Slobo beyond belief.
What’s your take on the Tito years?
You know, every time I start getting really cynical about this world and think that our opinions and our efforts don’t make a damned bit of difference, something like this happens.
The trial won’t restore a single lost life, or right a single injustice, but I sure as heck hope that his being held accountable for his actions will stand as a statement to those affected that, yes, this world does care very much about what you suffered.
There’s not too much justice in the world, but seeing the guy who started four wars charged like a common criminal - that’s certainly a step in the right direction. Presumably the ringleaders in the Albania/Macedonia conflict are looking towards Hague now, as well.
Hats off to the Serb prime minister, gutsy move. Makes you wonder who the real players in ex-Yugoslavia are ?
Elenfair, I’m very sorry to hear about your loss.
S. Norman
“Slobodan Milosevic”? I thought it was “Sloppy Don Morose Old Bitch”.
Was that actually neutral territory? My understanding was that it was leased to the UK as sovereign Scottish territory for the duration, allowing the US and UK a weaselly way to fulfill their promises to try the suspects on Scottish soil.
I’m not so sure it was a wise move. It looked like Yugoslavia was going to get the aid they wanted anyway, and with Kostunica putting pressure on the courts, Milosevic could well have been extradited legally. Instead, this extrajudicial action may cause a backlash, either judicially or politically, that could prevent Slobo’s cronies from facing trial. If the Serb PM has the power to defy the court on this matter, he should have just waited for the court to rule, then defy them if needed.
This made me very pleased. What he did is beyond description or imagination. There might be quite a few people in whta he left of Yugoslavia who want him strung up but I like the idea of him rotting in a cell somewhere for the rest of his life.