Kojović: A final victory over Karadžić would be a modern, European BiH

(Patria) - On the occasion of the final verdict against Radovan Karadžić, Our Party welcomes the decision by which the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts confirmed the responsibility of the wartime political leader of Republika Srpska for genocide and crimes against humanity, and amended the sentence by which he was originally convicted to 40 years to life imprisonment.
 
"Our Party believes that the final verdict against Radovan Karadžić is a final and irrefutable confirmation of the criminal nature of his political project. The verdict is insufficient, but an important satisfaction for the victims. Like other verdicts against war criminals who have their names and surnames, this verdict is a confirmation of Karadžić's personal responsibility, which must not be an eternal burden for an entire nation.
 
As during the pronouncement of the first-instance verdict against this criminal, Our Party calls on all those who know the truth about the committed crimes to find the civic courage and help the competent authorities in discovering unknown victims' graves and establishing the facts about the crimes. Punishing criminals, establishing the truth about crimes, and consistently and sincerely showing respect for all victims is the foundation for building trust among citizens and peoples and for living together in a multi-ethnic state such as Bosnia and Herzegovina," stated Our Party.
 
The president of Our Party, Predrag Kojović, stated that the verdict, whatever it may be, cannot bring back the dead or comfort those who survived Karadžić and his like-minded associates.

"Life imprisonment provides greater satisfaction than the sentence imposed by the first-instance verdict, which was 40 years, but it is still impossible to imagine an adequate sentence. However, the verdict, and especially the court material on which it was based, is valuable for BiH and the region because it offers facts to all those who deny, who do not know, or do not want to know the truth, based on which, if they wish and have the civic courage, they can themselves see the fascist nature of Karadžić's ideology," Kojović stated.

He adds that "a real, true, and final victory over Karadžić and his former and current followers would be a modern, European Bosnia and Herzegovina, a state in which all its citizens, regardless of their ethnic and religious affiliation, are equal and free in every inch of our country."