Bećirović: Punish those who publicly support and glorify criminals!

The Peace Implementation Council and the High Representative must urgently ban convicted war criminals from participating in elections, Zijad Bećirović, director of the International Institute IFIMES, told the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP).

Bećirović commented on the initiative of independent candidate for the BiH Presidency member Mustafa Cerić for the international community to prevent freed criminals like Dario Kordić or Momčilo Krajišnik from engaging in political activities.

- IFIMES has so far in its research repeatedly warned about the issue of the participation of former convicts for war crimes in social, public and political life after serving their prison sentences. This became particularly alarming when certain convicts began appearing in public and moralizing themselves, and some even withdrew their repentance or denied voluntary consent to cooperate with the Court and the Prosecutor's Office in order to reduce their prison sentence – says Bećirović.  

The situation, as he points out, becomes even more concerning with their return to local communities, i.e., to the scene of the crime where criminals and victims physically meet.

- That is why we have so far repeatedly called on the High Representative in BiH (OHR) and the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) to resolve this issue and make a decision that would ban all convicts for war crimes, regardless of their ethnic background, from any public, social and political activity, and to revoke their civil rights that currently allow them to participate and stand as candidates in elections, as is the case with legal practice in the USA regarding convicts for the most serious criminal offenses – he adds.

Also, Bećirović warns that it is necessary to sanction all those who publicly express support or sympathize with those convicted of war crimes.

- Someone may have personal sympathies for someone or even support them, but that must not be part of public discourse, i.e., it must be strictly punishable. All those who „watch over“ the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement must get involved in this open and burning issue – emphasizes the director of IFIMES for Patria.   

He believes that if appropriate measures are not taken regarding this issue, the meaning of serving prison sentences for those accused of war crimes and the crime of genocide will be lost.

- This can be done most quickly and effectively by adopting an appropriate decision of the OHR and PIC on this issue, especially now in the period until mid-July when candidate lists for the General Elections are submitted. This would prevent convicted war criminals from appearing on the election lists for the October elections – says Bećirović, as reported by NAP.