By telling a joke about those killed in the Srebrenica genocide, claiming that the victims are not buried in the Memorial Center but are still alive, Nenad Nesic, the Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), offends the surviving victims of the genocide and violates the Criminal Code of BiH by denying the genocide, according to three genocide researchers.
“If I may, let me tell a joke that is relevant to the burial of a father in Potocari. They asked little Mujo, born in Sarajevo, buried in Srebrenica, living in Germany,” Nenad Nesic said during an appearance on a television show.
Independent lawyer Lejla Gacanica emphasizes that the Criminal Code, in the section on denying genocide, does not have any loopholes or ambiguities, which are often mentioned by opponents of prosecuting genocide denial and by some prosecutors who justify the impossibility of filing charges and proving intent for denying genocide.
She explains that it is not only the character of the crime that is being disputed but the very occurrence of the crime is being denied, and the crime is grossly minimized as defined in the amendments to the Criminal Code, which prohibits the denial of genocide and other war crimes and the glorification of war criminals.
This view is shared by history professor and genocide researcher Jasmin Medic, who says that Nesic’s statement is morbid because of its attitude towards the crime and the victims and dangerous because of the position from which he speaks. He also notes that such casualness is only displayed in front of Serbian media.
“It was a terrible crime” also represents the relativization of genocide
Gacanica recalls that statements describing the genocide as a terrible or major crime represent a relativization of genocide and should be prosecuted.
“We have a verdict confirming the legal qualification of the crime committed, and its direct denial in the sense that it was not genocide but a war crime is indeed genocide denial,” Gacanica explains.
Digging into the wounds of the mothers of Srebrenica
Amid daily denials of the genocide, the mothers of Srebrenica say that jokes at the expense of their murdered children should have no place in public discourse and, if recorded, must be promptly prosecuted.
Lawyer and genocide researcher Hikmet Karcic states that BiH society has become too accustomed to high-ranking officials denying the genocide and other crimes and glorifying convicted war criminals, as these acts are repeatedly committed without any sanctions.
“In my opinion, this is absolutely a criminal offense. It falls into gross minimization, questioning of the genocide. Based on everything that was said, the manner in which it was said, the context, and the occasion, it can be concluded that the law was broken,” Karcic says, Detektor writes.
E.Dz.
