Foča, 15 May 2012
Outreach representative Almir Alić today travelled to Foča, eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, to meet a group of high school students and discuss with them the work and achievements of the ICTY. Around 33 students were in attendance and quickly showed their eagerness to engage with the subject matter, asking numerous questions both during and after the presentation.
The crimes committed in Foča, a town which became infamous for the mass rape of Bosnian Muslim girls and women, featured extensively in many of the Tribunal’s trials
Some students initially suggested that the Tribunal was biased and only prosecuted Serbs. Almir consequently offered specific examples of ICTY trials that dealt with crimes committed against Serb civilians, including the Čelebići case, which only one student seemed to be familiar with. Almir also focused on the message that the Tribunal does not put entire nations on trial, but rather individuals believed to bear the greatest responsibility for the crimes committed.
The students also wanted to learn more about guilty pleas and plea agreements, sanctions related to false testimony, and specific trials, such as that of Vojislav Šešelj.