SARAJEVO, May 23 (AFP)-Survivors of the 1995 massacre in the Bosnian Muslim
enclave of Srebrenica expressed outrage Tuesday at a decision by the U.N.
war crimes tribunal to grant early release to a Bosnian Croat convicted of
taking part in the slaughter.
An association called the Women of Srebrenica called the decision to
release Drazen Erdemovic a "death penalty for justice and for our hope that
the murderers of our children, still at large in Bosnia, will ever face
justice."
"Is there a justice for Srebrenica? Lawyers of the world, are you ashamed?"
asked the statement addressed to human rights groups and "all democrats of
the world." Srebrenica, the former U.N-protected Muslim enclave in eastern
Bosnia, was overrun by mostly Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995.
More than 7,000 Muslim men were reported missing, believed executed by the
Serb forces following the capture of the enclave. So far, the remains of
some 2,000 people were exhumed from mass graves in vicinity of Srebrenica.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
announced Monday that Erdemovic had been released early from prison,
without giving the date of the release.
Erdemovic, the first person jailed for war crimes by the ICTY, was
sentenced to five years jail in 1998 for taking part in execution of
hundreds of Muslims following the fall of Srebrenica, while serving with
the Bosnian Serb army.
He was initially sentenced in 1996 to 10 years in jail but his sentence was
cut in half following an appeal and a fresh trial. Several Bosnian Serbs
have been indicted by the ICTY for alleged war crimes committed in
Srebrenica, including former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic who is
still at large.
Wassalamu'alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarokaatuh
(DI-25/05/00)
