In a roundtable prominent journalists and representatives of non-government organizations from Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina discussed prosecution of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia

A roundtable on “War Crimes and Media: Possibility of Restoring Trust” was held at Mediacentar Sarajevo on September 28-29.
The roundtable covered the following issues:- reporting on war crimes and possibility of reconciliation in the Republika Srpska.- economic currents of reconciliation and normalization in Bosnia-Herzegovina.- legacy of The Hague Tribunal in the process of coming to terms with the past in the former Yugoslavia.- remembrance and discarding grudges – the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Participants watched three documentaries: Jedinica, Karneval and Izjava 710939.
The documentary Karneval (Carneval) is a screen version of the book “Kobna sloboda” (Fatal Freedom) by the journalist Seki Radoncic, written as a result of years of investigation of tragic fates of Bosnian refugees deported by Montenegro back to Bosnia in 1992 and handed over to the Bosnian Serb army, after which the majority was executed.
Participants watched the second part of the documentary “Jedinica” (Unit), a story about a special operations unit of Serbian secret police (better known as Red Berets). The second part of the series speaks about operation “Pauk” (Spider) which the unit carried out on the Bihac front in 1994 and about the fate of Serb refugees handed over by the Ministry of Interior of Serbia to Zeljko Raznjatovic Arkan, one of the unit’s top men.
The documentary series “Jedinica” by the author Filip Svarm was produced by TV B92 and consists of 3 episodes.
“Izjava 710939” (Statement 710939) by Refik Hodzic is a story about the author’s search for four missing men from Srebrenica who survived a mass execution of Srebrenica’s males, but were arrested by the Bosnian Serb army while fleeing Srebrenica, after which all trace of them was lost. The film is a story about Bosnia-Herzegovina, a country forever scarred by war crimes and their legacy.
The roundtable keynote speakers were: Sadik Pazarac, member of the Helsinki Board in the Republika Srpska and News Agency ONASA correspondent from Bijeljina; Dr. Sci. Dragoljub Stojanov, Full Professor of the Faculty of Economics of Sarajevo; Seki Radoncic, journalist and publicist; Dejan Anastasijevic, journalist with “Vreme” magazine, Belgrade; Aldin Arnautovic, “XY Films” production, Sarajevo; Refik Hodzic, Hague Tribunal Spokesman; Entoni Seperic, Christian theologian, Sarajevo; Dragutin Hedl, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Feral Tribune, Split.
This was the last meeting organized by Transitions Online and the NetNovinar training center in a series dedicated to war crimes and media this year. The previous two were held in February and May this year.
The previous meetings, among other things, discussed media coverage of trials for war crimes in BiH, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, manipulation with casualty figures, and cooperation between civil society institutions and media in restoring trust. A documentary was shown on the plight of Vukovar called “Posljednji Rez” (Last Cut), by Drago Hedl and Janko Baljak, as well as the integral version of video footage of “Skorpioni” (Scorpions) about the execution of Srebrenica’s civilians.
The project was supported by Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and US Institute of Peace (USIP).
The project was hosted by NetNovinar – Center for Investigative Journalism and Media Education (founders: Mediacentar Sarajevo and Investigative Journalism Center Zagreb).