Forbidden to reveal a war crime

[Michel Collon <michel.collon at skynet.be>]

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Will the Whistleblower Who Revealed
the First War Crime in Yugoslavia Go to Jail Soon ?
GEORGES BERGHEZAN
June 25, 1991: Slovenia and Croatia unilaterally proclaim their
independence, the Yugoslav army is deployed at the country's international
borders. Three days later, in the village of Holmec, at the
Slovene-Austrian border, three young conscripts, attacked by Slovene police
who had encircled their tank, waved a white flag and surrendered. They were
killed in cold blood by the police in the presence of a cameraman from the
Austrian TV network ORF. It was the first documented war crime in a
conflict that would continue spilling blood in the former Yugoslavia for
the next eight years.

These facts were kept secret for the next seven years until the ORF footage
showing the surrender and the execution of the three soldiers -- two Serbs
and one Croat -- was finally broadcast on Slovenian television. Pressured
by the Slovene branch of the NGO Helsinki Monitor and its president, Neva
Miklavcic Predan, an official inquiry was conducted, but it concluded in
1999 that no war crimes at all had been committed (the soldiers would have
simulated their execution and they would have been killed shortly afterward
in combat).

Things probably could have stayed there -- and the affair could have
continued to be completely ignored by the international media -- if
Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian president, during his
cross-examination of the Slovene President, Milan Kucan, who had been
summoned by The Hague Tribunal in May 2003 to testify against Milosevic,
had not posed several troubling questions to his adversary and brought
several supplementary pieces of information to the case, which included the
death certificates of the aforementioned soldiers. Visibly caught off
guard, Kucan gave assurances that the case had not been closed, all the
while denying that the conscripts had been executed. A few days later, Neva
Miklavcic Predan held a press conference in Ljubljana in which she cast a
shadow of doubt on Kucan testimony. The statements made at this press
conference sparked a defamation lawsuit filed by twenty-six Slovene war
veterans whose "feelings were profoundly hurt" by her allegation of war
crime.

At the same time, a Slovenian court closed the case once again at the
beginning of April 2006, reiterating that no war crime had taken place in
Holmec, basing its decision on the 1999 inquiry. On the other hand, in
Belgrade, a special tribunal for war crimes finally decided to open an
inquest on the matter. At The Hague, despite the evidence provided by
Miklavcic Predan, and then by Milosevic, there still does not seem to be
any interest in what appears to be the first war crime committed in the
Yugoslav wars.
For Neva Miklavcic Predan, however, the case has not been closed. The
complaint filed by the war veterans has gone its course and resulted in the
trial now taking place. She risks being sentenced to two years imprisonment
and the next hearing has been set for May 30. During the first two
hearings, the accusations relied on a gross falsification of the ORF video
that tries to make one believe that the Slovene police did not fire upon
the Yugoslav conscripts.

Furthermore, she is accused of having tried to bribe a government official
in order to obtain citizenship for a Roma. This second trial has now been
suspended. She could be sentenced to three years more in prison as a result
of the proceedings. Finally, a judge in Ljubljana, feeling offended by a
remark that Miklavcic Predan made, has also filed a complaint. She is
subject to three months' imprisonment if she is sentenced.

Neva Miklavcic Predan considers herself to be the victim of political
trials intended to punish her for having cast a shadow over the mini-war of
independence waged by Slovenia, which has often been characterized as a
model among the new members of the European Union. Even if the affair
starts making headlines throughout the former Yugoslavia, it still remains
unknown beyond. However, the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) and
the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have initiated a
campaign of support and have requested writing to the Slovene authorities
in order to stop the harassment of the president of Helsinki Monitor. We
have taken up their appeal, which we reproduce below.

Action requested:
Please write to the Slovenian authorities and ask them to:

i. Put an end to any kind of harassment against Mrs. Neva Miklavcic-Predan,
and ensure that her right to a fair and impartial trial be guaranteed in
any circumstances;

ii. Conform with the provisions of the Declaration on Humans Rights
Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on
December 9, 1998, in particular article 1, which states that "everyone has
the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the
protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the
national and international levels", and article 12.2, which states that
"the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by
the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with
others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure
adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a
consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in
the present Declaration";

iii. More generally, conform with the provisions of the Universal
Declaration on Human Rights, and with all other international human rights
instruments binding Slovenia.

Addresses:
·	President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Janez Drnovsek,
Erjavceva 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, Tel.: 00 386 1 478-10-00, Fax: 00
386 1 478-12-00, Email: janez.drnovsek at up-rs.si; gp.uprs at up-rs.si
·	Premier of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Jansa, Gregorciceva 20,
1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, Tel.: 00 386 1 478-10-00, Fax: 00 386 1
478-17-21, Email: janez.jansa at gov.si; gp.upv at upr-rs.si
·	Minister of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Lovro Sturm,
Zupanciceva 3, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, Tel.: 00 386 1 369-52-72, Fax: 00
386 1 369-52-76, Email: lovro.sturm at gov.si
·	Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Dimitrij Rupel, Presernova 25,
1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, Tel.: 00386 1 478-23-73, Fax: 00386 1 478-21-70,
Email: dimitrij.rupel at gov.si
·	Supreme State Prosecutor, Barbara Brezigar, Dunajska 22, Ljubljana,
Slovenia, Tel.: 00 386 1 434-19-35, Fax: 00 386 1, Email: bbrezigar at dt-rs.si
·	District Court of Ljubljana, president, Tavcarjeva 9, 1000
Ljubljana, Slovenia, Tel.: 00 386 1 366-44-44, Fax: 00 386 1 366-45-18,
Email: marjan.pogacnik at sodisce.si
·	Local Court of Ljubljana, President Vesna Pavlic Pivk, Miklosiceva
12, 1000 Ljubljana. Slovenia, Tel.: 00 386 1 47 47.701, Fax: 00 386 1
47-47-705, Email: urad. at sodisce.si
·	Higher Court in Ljubljana, President Jernej Potocar, Tavcarjeva 9,
1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, Tel.: 00 386 1 366-40-00, Fax: 00 386 1
366-40-70, Email: jernej.potocar at sodisce.si
·	Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, President Franc Testen,
Tavcarjeva 9, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Tel.: 00 386 1 336-42-02, Fax: 00 386 1
336-43-01, Email: urad.vhrs at sodisce.si
·	Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia, President Janez
Cebulj, Betthovnova 10, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, Tel: 00 386 1 477-64-00,
Fax: 00 386 1 251-04-51, Email: info at us-rs.si
·	Ambassador Mr. Aljaz Gosnar, Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the
United Nations in Geneva, rue de Lausanne 147, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland,
Tel: + 41 22 716 17 80, Fax: + 41 22 738 66 65, Email: mge at mzz-dpk.gov.si
·	Permanent Mission of Slovenia in Brussels, 30 avenue Marnix, 1000
Bruxelles, Belgium, Tel : +32 25124466, Fax : + 32 25120997

AUTHOR'S ADDRESS : g.berghezan at tele2.be

MORE : See chapter "Medialies" in the book
Liar's Poker -Yugoslavia, the great powers and the next wars.
Info : michel.collon at skynet.be

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