Twenty-Five Years After Milosevic’s Fall, Europe Must Defend International Justice

This post is also available in this language: Shqip Bos/Hrv/Srp Twenty-five years ago this month, I was privileged to stand amidst the crowds in central Belgrade as Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was finally forced out by his own people. For many, Milosevic’s rule had come to seem impregnable. But the protesters’ slogan was accurate: Gotov je – ‘He’s finished.’ Even as he gave way to nationwide protests against his false claims to have won the previous month’s presidential election, Milosevic insisted he would soon be back. Instead, eight months after his fall, a new Serbian government put the country’s former president on a plane to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY, in The Hague. Milosevic died behind bars near the end of a trial for crimes against humanity and genocide, before a verdict could be reached. Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and military commander Ratko Mladic, as well as other war crimes suspects, were also delivered to The Hague; Karadzic and Mladic are currently serving life sentences, including for genocide in Srebrenica in 1995. Please login to your account below if you are already a Premium Subscriber. Our Premium Service gives you full access to all content published on BalkanInsight.com, including analyses, investigations, comments, interviews and more. Choose your subscription today and get unparalleled in-depth coverage of the Southern and Eastern Europe. If you have trouble logging in or any other questions regarding you account, please contact us