| Zoran, We Hardly Knew Ye |
28 April 2003
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Serbian Justice on Trial
In the US, Zoran Djindjic was not a household name the way Saddam Hussein was, but his assassination has serious implications for the US in Europe. As a reformer in Serbia, a nation in desperate need of reform, he was a target for those who liked things the old-fashioned (or perhaps old-fascist) way. Some 15 people are charged directly with the murder, but the real defendant is Serbian justice.
Unlike America in 1963, the trial for the murder of Serbia's leader cannot be halted with another killing. The conspiracy is too large, and the names too big. Serbian ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj has been charged in the case, and he is already un the Hague awaited war-crimes trial. Rade Bulatovic, an aid to former Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, and also former security chief Aco Tomic are being held as well.
The difficulty is to give these men a fair trial, and if they are found guilty, to give them an appropriate punishment. Moreover, if they are innocent, it is vital that the real killers be found and punished in a legal and civilized way. One is not concerned about the rights of the accused; the international media will assure that those are respected to the nth degree. Rather, one properly worries about jury-tampering, intimidation of witnesses, and police collusion in the case.
Serbia is on trial here. Its legal institutions will be the stronger for a successful and fair prosecution. Yet, if those institutions cannot give justice to the late Prime Minister of the country, to whom can the give it? Regime change would, then, seem to be in order. Regrettably, that is what the accused are charged with effecting.