Bijeljina, 8 April 2013
Almir Alić, the Tribunal’s Outreach representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) today met with high school students in the northeastern town of Bijeljina.
Due to its strategic location next to the Serbian border, Bijeljina was the first municipality in BiH to be taken over by the Serbs in April 1992. A campaign of terror and killing ensued, with the Serb authorities establishing a regime designed to drive out the non-Serb civilian population.
Over the course of a relaxed two-hour interaction with the students, Almir highlighted the significance of the ICTY’s work with regard to deterring future crimes and explained how the Tribunal’s rich corpus of jurisprudence is one of the key elements of its legacy.
After the presentation, one 17-year-old student said that she believed the Tribunal’s most positive contribution to post-conflict former Yugoslavia was allowing “victims and families of victims to at least get some peace of mind and a feeling of justice.”