Duratović: I don't expect anything spectacular from Karadžić's verdict, they convict individuals, not policies

(Patria) - I don't expect anything spectacular from the second-instance verdict for Radovan Karadžić, nor do I expect to hear anything more than what was stated in the first-instance verdict, stated Mirsad Duratović, president of the Association of Camp Detainees "Prijedor '92.", for Patria.

"On the contrary, I would be less surprised if the sentence were reduced than if the Hague Tribunal did what should have been done in the first-instance verdict, namely to condemn the policy that led to genocide against Bosniaks and Croats in Republika Srpska," added Duratović.

He says that the victims have already received a picture of the tribunal's policy, which punishes individuals, but not their policies.

"When we talk about Prijedor alone, we have 12 so far, and this will be the 13th final verdict for war crimes in Prijedor, and there is no condemnation of the policy that led to it," Duratović adds.

Duratović hopes that "the judicial panels of the former Tribunal and the current Mechanism, if they haven't understood the scope of the crimes based on the number of verdicts, have understood it based on the recent events in New Zealand".

"They could see that world terrorist and radical organizations have taken Karadžić and his policies as their idols. I hope that the international community will also understand the impact of such policies through what happened in New Zealand," Duratović told Patria.