Written by: PETRIT SARACHINI
The death of war criminal Ratko Mladić has triggered a new wave of his glorification, as well as approval, justification and minimization of the crimes and genocide committed during the bloody war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Just look at the explosion of comments of this nature on social media, as well as the statements of some political actors, some of whom are currently in power in the country!
What does the North Macedonia’s Criminal Code say about this?
“Approval or Justification of Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity or War Crimes
Article 407-a
(1) Anyone who, through an information system, publicly denies, grossly minimizes, approves or justifies the acts referred to in Articles 403 to 407 shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of one to five years.
(2) If the denial, minimization, approval or justification is committed with the intention of inciting hatred, discrimination or violence against a person or group of persons because of their national, ethnic or racial affiliation or religious beliefs, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of at least four years.”
The criminal offenses referred to in this article are: Genocide (Article 403), Crimes Against Humanity (Article 403-a), War Crimes Against the Civilian Population (Article 404), War Crimes Against the Wounded and Sick (Article 405), War Crimes Against Prisoners of War (Article 406), and Use of Prohibited Means of Warfare (Article 407).
So far, there has been no reaction from the Ministry of Interior or the Prosecutor’s Office to what is happening in the public sphere and on social media. And yet, just a few days ago, we heard warnings from the government that those who spread disinformation about water contamination in Skopje would be prosecuted (even though there is no legal basis for this — because of opposition from the very same actors, those amendments to the Criminal Code were not adopted at the time and were attacked as “censorship” and “dictatorship”)?!
And now? What are the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor’s Office doing? Will they remain silent and allow people jump at each-others throats, allowing hatred to spread in the name of a wretched war criminal who stained the reputation of his own people? Or will the laws and the warnings, finally, begin to be enforced in this country by the same standard for everyone?
If not, so be it…
