European Forum

Ganic extradition request denied by London Court

The London’s City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court rejected Serbia’s request for extradition of former wartime Bosnian President Ejup Ganić. He was arrested on 1 March of this year at London’s Heathrow Airport on a provisional extradition request from Belgrade for alleged “conspiracy to murder with other named people and breach of the Geneva Convention, namely killing wounded soldiers.” Judge Timothy Workman accused the Belgrade authorities of mounting war crimes charges against its former enemy in an attempt to smooth the way for its application to join the EU, calling it a train “brought for and…used for political purposes”.

The incident in question (Akcija Dobrovoljačka) involved the deaths of dozens of Yugoslav National Army (JNA) soldiers on 3 May 1992, while a truce was in effect and the soldiers were in retreat. Serbia said Ganić’s actions violated the Geneva Convention as he ordered attacks on a medical convoy and a hospital and the execution of soldiers who surrendered. In order to determine whether there is a case against Ganić, the London Court asked for two investigations. The first was carried out by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which concluded there was no case. The second, commissioned by the prosecutors office for the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), ruled that the case against Ganić was politically motivated.

Judge Workman argued that the combination of two investigations “leads me to believe that these proceedings are brought and are being used for political purposes and as such amount to an abuse of the process of this court”. He added that the evidence presented in the courtroom did not justify a change to the 2003 ICTY decision, in which the case against Ganić was dismissed because of insufficient evidence.

Reactions
Outside the courthouse in London, Ganić hailed the decision as a vindication and told reporters that “the government of Serbia tried to undermine the judiciary” in Britain. “I was proud when I heard the closing arguments of the judge. We won and this (case) will have an important role in further developments in BiH and in the relations with neighbours, as well.”

As expected the ruling was received with mixed feelings in BiH. Bosniak member of BiH Presidency Haris Silajdzić (Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina) said: “justice has been served”. Željko Komšić (Social Democratic Party of BiH), the Croat member of BiH Presidency, welcomed the “right decision” by the Court, stressing that by this “the policy of a Greater Serbia has suffered another defeat, particularly because all prosecution arguments were rejected and all arguments of the defence team accepted”.

Lazar Prodanović from the Union of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) said that the ruling of the Court is unjust having in mind the role Ganić has had in the war in BiH. Prodanović regrets the decision but said to be convinced that the BiH prosecutor will examine if it is possible to issue charges against Ganić for the incident with JNA soldiers.

The leader of the Bosnian Serb opposition Party of Democratic Progress (PDP), Mladen Ivanić, stated that the Court “succumbed to the pressure of some British politicians” when it rejected Serbia’s request for Ganić’s extradition. “The court’s decision shows that politics are present everywhere, including in the British judiciary,” he added.

Source: Radio Slobodna Evropa, The Independent and BIRN