War Crimes Trials are no Divorce Cases
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“War crimes trials are neither divorce cases nor inheritance disputes, involving family members, in which ‘privacy’ of parties should be protected, because ‘parties’ in war crimes cases include not only indictees and their victims, but all of us and our society as a whole,” Klarin said.
He said this while commenting on a decision rendered by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, under which the public would no longer be able to see or hear statements given at trials, including victims’ testimonies, in electronic media.
“The purpose of war crimes trials is not only to punish the perpetrators, but also to determine what happened and why it happened, as well as identify individuals responsible for those crimes, so we would avoid having a collective – ‘Serbian’, ‘Croatian’ or ‘Bosniak’ guilt for those crimes,” Klarin explained.
He said that this could not be achieved without having a complete overview of what was happening and being said or shown in courtrooms.
“An indictment and verdict are just starting and closing points of a long process, but the most important and most interesting part of that process is what happens in between, i.e. during the trial itself – statements given by witnesses and victims, admissions by indictees, testimonies by so-called insiders, presentation of forensic and other types of evidence. Collectively, all of these enable the media to reconstruct the events on which a specific trials focuses,” Klarin said.
According to Klarin, the Tribunal’s relations with the media enable the SENSE Agency to accomplish all this, although they would “be happier if there were fewer protected witnesses and closed sessions”. Klarin explained why it was important to obtain audio and video recordings of hearings.
“I chose television, because, while I was reporting from trials held at The Hague, I felt incapable of finding words that would convey all the emotions and drama that I saw and heard in courtrooms. A picture and sound of victims, witnesses and indictees speaking are irreplaceable elements of a reconstruction of events discussed in courtrooms by the media. Those elements make such reconstructions authentic, credible, worth remembering and, consequently, more effective,” Klarin explained.
On Friday, March 23 the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced that it had adopted new Regulations on the implementation of access to information under the control of the Court and cooperation with the community, according to which media could get only ten minutes of footage in audio or video form from the beginning of trials. The initial part of each hearing is usually dedicated to introduction of parties and witnesses, taking an oath and similar procedural actions.
