Hartmann: The Srebrenica genocide was planned in Belgrade

Tonight's guest on Pressing on N1 was Florence Hartmann, former spokesperson for the Hague Tribunal, a French journalist and writer, reports the Patria News Agency.

Two weeks remain until the sentencing of Radovan Karadžić, and three until the sentencing of Vojislav Šešelj. She previously stated that Šešelj and other defendants are in a better position because they have not been convicted - and she was then sentenced to seven days in prison.

"There are many who should be convicted. Karadžić and Šešelj will be soon, but there are others who should be," she said in the introduction.

"It would be rational for me to fear extradition. My problem is that I can prove the verdict was illegally issued, but when you are convicted, it doesn't matter. I need an expert to look into whether there were violations of Articles 6 and 10 of the Human Rights Convention. I don't have access to that, because there is no institution above The Hague."

She is accused of publishing secret decisions during the trial of Slobodan Milošević before the Hague Tribunal.

"Mr. Meron signed those two decisions that were secret. We are talking about something that is secret, and we don't know what it is. Belgrade archives related to Bosnia and Herzegovina were being protected. They were so confident that they didn't have to answer to anyone. My lawyer recorded everything, and I transferred it to France," said Hartmann.

She says it is necessary to "break that verdict": "If I am right - then you tear up the verdict, and if I am wrong - then I go to prison for seven days."

She has a lot of problems due to the verdict, she pointed out, because she has to record that she has been criminally punished. It affects her daily life, she said.

Despite this, she continued to criticize the work and legacy of the Hague Tribunal. She was punished for revealing documents - specifically a decision that the Tribunal should have published itself.

"We are hiding important documents of the Milošević regime, because if Bosnia seeks reparations - they would have to pay millions of euros in debt, which would harm Serbia's economy."

"They disgraced themselves by hiding it. It is important that we gained access to those documents. Bosnia and Herzegovina requested documents stating that Serbia aided genocide, but it was prevented from Bosnia and Herzegovina using them. They are not sufficient to prove that Serbia aided, because there is another level of protection."

Why was it more important for The Hague to protect Serbia from responsibility?

"You should ask them. What they did is immoral. Politics instead of justice for the victims. Serbia requested it, and has the right to request it, protection of documents. Because if it can prove that it exposes its state security, then it has the right to protect documents. The judges saw it, but the law does not provide any other excuse. But they did not state it publicly. It is politics, which can also be from the judge's mind."

It was in the interest of "keeping the peace," says Hartmann.

What is in the redacted parts of those documents?

"Those documents that The Hague released after my writing prove that the presidents of the republics of ex-Yugoslavia, who were followed by the JNA General Staff - followed the events in Bosnia and Herzegovina. What kind of help they need, so that the army led by Ratko Mladić would be paid. The officer corps of the Army of Republika Srpska is on Belgrade's payroll. They are from another country, they left under the pretext that they are from Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are aware that these transcripts are so dangerous for a country, because they prove that that regime is waging war in another country - and Serbia was officially not at war."

"That is not true. I was arrested in Zvornik by the Serbian army," because no other such unit existed except in Niš.

She says that some transcripts were transcribed word for word - and others were summarized, while some do not exist and were created in Belgrade - especially in the case of the Srebrenica genocide:

When we get closest to shedding light on Belgrade's role, we realize that the genocide begins in Belgrade - and then is transferred to lower structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina. When we get to the issue of Srebrenica - pages are missing. Documents are missing, conversations between officers and politicians are crossed out.

The Hague requested and determined the existence of these documents, and the first big step to know that something exists is that they don't give you access, Hartmann explains.

Why was that in their interest, or rather, what was the interest of the Hague Tribunal?

"It could be interest, it could be speculation. The interest could be related to what the West did from 1992 to 1995. If they knew that something was happening, and what the roles were - they should have taken more measures than they did. We couldn't connect those links."

On what basis do you claim to have known that the genocide in Srebrenica would happen and what was agreed at the meeting in Belgrade?

"I don't have details about that meeting. I only have testimony about what was said after the meeting. One of Karadžić's advisors mentioned the men in Srebrenica. The West knew about the threats. Mladić's intermediaries informed Western representatives that they intended to kill the men in Srebrenica. I have evidence for this, names and dates."

She also has a key testimony in The Hague, which was never taken into account in the verdicts. The things in the book are public and do not affect any previously established narrative.