Alternative Africa

Top Menu

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

logo

Alternative Africa

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
  • France to counter rising Chinese influence in Africa with generous, efficient aids

  • Zimbabwe reports impressive growth in production in 2020 despite Covid-19

  • Covax delivers 12 million vaccines doses to 17 African countries for vaccination

  • UK to cut aid to Nigeria, other African countries by more than 50%

  • All you need to know about the side effects of COVID-19 vaccine

News NowWorld
Home›News Now›Bosnian Croat officials meet their nemesis in The Hague

Bosnian Croat officials meet their nemesis in The Hague

By alternativeafrica
November 30, 2017
620
0
Share:

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina – For over 400 years the Old Bridge in Mostar united the east and west of the city.

For centuries, the men of Mostar competed in jumping and diving off the bridge as part of the local tradition.

The bridge has always been the symbol of the Herzegova region’s Mostar, the most multi-ethnic city in former Yugoslavia.

But on November 9, 1993, the unthinkable happened. After Croatian military forces had fired more than 60 projectiles at the bridge, the old stones finally gave way and collapsed into the deep Neretva River. Residents were in shock.

On Wednesday the appeals chamber at the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague upheld its first-instance verdict and sentenced six former Bosnian Croat military and political officials to 111 years in prison.

The tribunal upheld the verdict from 2013 that the six Bosnian Croat officials along with the late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, formed the Croatian “joint criminal enterprise” (JCE), which aimed for a “unification of the Croatian people” and ethnically cleansed the Muslim population in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to create a “Greater Croatia”.

Croatia’s then-Defence Minister Gojko Susak and former Croatian chief of general staff, Janko Bobetko, also participated in the JCE.

Croatia led the JCE with the goal of creating a Croatian entity known as Herzeg-Bosnia, the tribunal found.

The tribunal further confirmed Croatia’s role in the conflict, ruling that Croatia held authority in municipalities in Herzeg-Bosnia by controlling the Bosnian Croat armed forces, the “Croatian Defence Council” (HVO).

Croatia held eight municipalities in the statelet “under occupation”.

‘Disproportionate damage’

One of the convicted war criminals, Slobodan Praljak, was initially charged with ordering the destruction of the Mostar Old Bridge, which judges in the first trial said: “caused disproportionate damage to the Muslim civilian population”.

This time, however, the appeals chamber accepted part of Praljak’s appeal, stating that the bridge had been a legitimate military target during the conflict.

“I couldn’t believe it [when I heard],” said Emir Balic, 82, a renowned diver from Mostar. “I couldn’t believe that someone had destroyed the Old Bridge, which has existed for 500 years, which survived wars, natural disasters. We considered the bridge to be the oldest resident of Mostar, as if it was a human being.”

Indeed, Mostar city was named after the bridge keepers, or mostari, who in medieval times guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva.

The Old Bridge, built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most recognisable landmarks and is considered one of the most exemplary pieces of Islamic architecture in the Balkans.

“I was shocked when the Old Bridge was destroyed, and now I went through shock again when the representatives of an international court accepted this from the HVO, from the people convicted that the bridge was of military character, that it was used as a crossing for soldiers, transferring of munitions, etc,” Balic said.



Bosnian Croats hang a flag displaying a portrait of Praljak and a message [Dado Ruvic/Reuters]

“All of the bridges were destroyed in Mostar at that time, all of them.

“Only the Old Bridge was left standing. I remember it well … The bridge was used to transfer patients from the right bank of the Neretva to the left.

“On the right side of the bank there was no medical aid at all; on the left bank, there was a first aid station, not even a hospital. The injured would go there. Mostar was completely blocked from all sides; you couldn’t get in or out.”

This latest verdict held at the ICTY, like that of Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladic, did not end without a dramatic interruption.

Upon hearing that his 20-year sentence had been upheld, General Praljak shouted at the presiding judge “I, Slobodan Praljak, reject the verdict. I’m not a war criminal”, and then drank poison out of a tiny bottle. Praljak died shortly after in the hospital.

Eugen Jakovcic, of the Croatian Documenta (centre for dealing with the past), told Al Jazeera that Praljak’s “insane” act “strengthens the mythology which undeniable crimes were built on”.

“Praljak’s act contributes to the continuation of that Balkan tradition … this heroism which isn’t founded on logic, facts, but on irrationality. Crimes were committed based on this mythology. We all know how that whole Serbian moment started off; it was full of mythology,” Jakovcic said.

“This was a hard hit for all of us who would like to live in a civilised, reasonable society, where we can debate, talk … This is an opportunity for the Croatian public to confront the crimes of individuals.”

However, the six convicted war criminals still find support among many Croats.

Following the verdict, Andrej Plenkovic, Croatia’s prime minister, said the convictions were a “moral injustice” and that Praljak acted in a way “that he thought was best for his people”.

Despite the ICTY’s findings, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic denied Croatia’s involvement in the Bosnian war. “Croatia did not attack anyone,” Grabar-Kitarovic said on Thursday.

Idea of Herzeg-Bosnia

The idea of a Herzeg-Bosnia statelet lives on in many cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In many areas of Herzegovina, Croatian flags and the similar coat of arms of Herzeg-Bosnia decorate the streets that feature names such as “Republic of Croatia”.

There is little to remind a visitor that they are in fact in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the Bosnian-Croat Federation entity, there are more than 30 schools that operate under the principle of “two schools under one roof”.

Bosniak and Bosnian Croat students attend the same school but are segregated and follow a Bosnian and Croatian curriculum respectively.

Segregation also applies to some hospitals and seniors’ homes. There are also two post offices, two telephone companies and two electrical companies – one for Croats, the other for Bosniaks in many cantons.

Mostar’s Old Bridge was officially rebuilt in 2004, but the city remains deeply divided between a Bosniak side on the east and a Croatian side on the western bank of the Neretva river.

It is a sorry sight for Balic, who was born and raised in Mostar, once known as the most multi-ethnic city in Yugoslavia.

“It’s a divided city, but it’s not due to the people. I frequent both the left and the right side; I drink coffee here and there. It’s the youth that need to come to power,” Balic said, referring to the politicians who fuel division.

“A lot of people from Mostar were killed [defending their city] –  23 jumpers from my [jumping and diving] club,” Balic said. “They were of all nationalities – Serbs, Croats, Muslims. We didn’t divide ourselves by nationality.

“Whether people like it or not, the verdict is what it is. In the end, they are held to account.”

SHARE ON:
TagsBreakingNewsWorld
Previous Article

UK Snooker Championship 2017: Basem Eltahhan ‘under ...

Next Article

Honduras election: Tensions high as vote count ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

alternativeafrica

Related articles More from author

  • News Now

    Inside the gated communities of WhatsApp

    January 16, 2018
    By alternativeafrica
  • News Now

    Not just mobile money

    January 3, 2018
    By alternativeafrica
  • News NowWorld

    ‘Say it like it is’ presidents Duterte, Trump to meet

    November 11, 2017
    By alternativeafrica
  • News NowWorld

    Zimbabwe: What citizens want from President Mnangagwa

    November 24, 2017
    By alternativeafrica
  • News NowWorld

    UN ‘botched’ sexual abuse cases in CAR

    September 15, 2017
    By alternativeafrica
  • News Now

    Tattoos, piercing and dreadlocks on Egypt’s streets

    November 20, 2017
    By alternativeafrica

Leave a reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You might be interested

  • News NowPolitics

    Cameroon: President Paul Biya Launches Campaign on Northern Border

  • HealthNews NowWorld

    GPs in England to begin offering Pfizer vaccine after 18,447 new cases

  • AfricaNews NowPolitics

    Ethiopian parliament approves law to curb hate speech, fake news

Timeline

  • March 7, 2021

    France to counter rising Chinese influence in Africa with generous, efficient aids

  • March 7, 2021

    Zimbabwe reports impressive growth in production in 2020 despite Covid-19

  • March 7, 2021

    Covax delivers 12 million vaccines doses to 17 African countries for vaccination

  • March 6, 2021

    UK to cut aid to Nigeria, other African countries by more than 50%

  • March 6, 2021

    All you need to know about the side effects of COVID-19 vaccine

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Morocco begins regional integration by connecting Casablanca Airport with High Speed Train

    By alternativeafrica
    January 4, 2020
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Nigeria: 32,000 capacity Lagos rice mill to start production in 2020

    By alternativeafrica
    December 23, 2019
  • Ado zagi
    on
    January 12, 2021

    Nigeria: EFCC Academy to begin award of degree

    Diploma leave areply from
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack followed a ...
AlternativeAfrica.com is an independent Pan African News Website dedicated primarily to influencing the negative narratives about Africa. We hope to do this by focusing and showcasing the many developmental strides sweeping across the continent.

Read more >>>

Contact Info

  • info@alternativeafrica.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • France to counter rising Chinese influence in Africa with generous, efficient aids

    By alternativeafrica
    March 7, 2021
  • Zimbabwe reports impressive growth in production in 2020 despite Covid-19

    By alternativeafrica
    March 7, 2021
  • Covax delivers 12 million vaccines doses to 17 African countries for vaccination

    By alternativeafrica
    March 7, 2021
  • UK to cut aid to Nigeria, other African countries by more than 50%

    By alternativeafrica
    March 6, 2021
  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Macron in Ivory Coast to launch anti-terrorism academy

    By alternativeafrica
    December 21, 2019
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Ado zagi
    on
    January 12, 2021

    Nigeria: EFCC Academy to begin award of degree

    Diploma leave areply from
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...

Photostream

    Follow us

    • Home
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
    © Copyright Alternative Africa 2019. All rights reserved.