Ademi Was Not Treated As One of Us

The UN report that advised the war crimes tribunal to indict Ademi because he was Albanian caused a shock among Croatian politicians.

ZAGREB, CROATIA - Indict Ademi because he is Albanian and based on his nationality Croatia will be more likely to process him, said a UN Commission of Experts report that analysed the Medak Pocket military operation a year after it had been carried out. Although they dismissed the possibility that any individual or commanding officer should be made responsible for the killing, torture and mutilation of victims, the report advised the Hague’s war crimes tribunal that it should indict General Rahim Ademi.

The report caused reactions among politicians who believe that such a report suited generals Ademi and Norac’s defence counsel.

‘The statements of Serb witnesses are not reliable’ 

- The defence now has proof that contradicts witness accounts – HSP’s Pero Kovacevic says. He agrees with a part of the report that pointed out that Serb witnesses were not objective due to their emotional involvement.

- Such witnesses are not reliable and the experts made their conclusion – Kovacevic said. But he refuted the part of the report which says that the Medak Pocket military operation had been carried out much like any other military operation in ‘the Balkans’. The action by the Croatian Army was not disorganised, he said.

- We all know what the situation in Gospic was. Medak Pocket had to have happened – he said. IDS’s Damir Kajin agreed, but said the Croatian authorities were more likely to ‘give up’ Ademi than Norac.

‘They resisted The Hague and processed Blaskic’ 

- Former president (Franjo) Tudjman and former defence minister (Gojko) Susak would not have transferred anybody to The Hague, but when they realised the pressure was rising, they got Tihomir Blaskic to come over from Bosnia-Herzegovina. When The Hague asked that he be extradited, they resisted and then processed him – Kajin explains, connecting the case with the Ademi case.

He admits that there had been divisions within Croatian army into ‘us’ and ‘them’, meaning former Yugoslav generals.

In the Medak Pocket operation, Croatia defended its territory and never entered the territory of another country, he said.

‘Croatia was defended by Albanians, Muslims and Italians’ 

SDP’s Ante Kotromanovic, who was asked to take the witness stand at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague at the trial of generals Cermak and Markac, also condemned the UN report, especially because of the ‘military operation in the Balkans’ formulation.

- War in general is horrific. Just look at Iraq and Afghanistan where masses of civilians have been killed. I do not agree that such things occur only in the Balkans – Kotromanovic said, adding that the report would not do much to help Ademi’s defence.

The report’s advice that Croatia should ‘sacrifice’ Ademi because of his nationality is an extremely bad thing, Kotromanovic believes.

- During the war in Croatia, Albanians, Muslims, Italians and many others enlisted in the Croatian army, did everything in their power to defend the country – he said.

‘Ademi was blamed because of his naiveté and nationality’ 

Back in 1994 when the report was made, DC’s Vesna Skare-Ozbolt was working in the President`s office. She claims she never saw the UN report nor did she know who its authors are.

- I am cautious when it comes to such reports that surface on some foreign Internet sites and I don’t think its sudden publishing has anything to do with common sense. But if it is genuine, I believe it could help Ademi’s defence – she stressed.

It is no secret that Ademi was treated as ‘not being one of us’ and was often blamed for various things, Ozbolt said.

- Because of his nationality and also his naiveté, Ademi was often used as a scapegoat. One could often hear about him not being ‘one of us’, so he was to be blamed, but I cannot confirm that this is the case this time because, I repeat, I know nothing about the report. I must say that, personally, I think all the best of him – Ozbolt said.

Former interior minister Ivan Jarnjak completely refuted any possibility of the report being authentic. He claims that he had never before heard of the report and does not believe that somebody advised that Ademi should be blamed for the Medak Pocket operation because of his nationality.

- This is all nonsense to me – Jarnjak said.

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