The statement that he would “do it all over again” by a Hague convict who was released early from serving his sentence for crimes committed in Ahmici and central Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) caused anxiety and fear among the residents of this village where more than 100 civilians were killed in April 1993. They see justice in the reaction of the state judiciary, distancing from such statements and returning Dario Kordic to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Two months after commemorating the 31st anniversary of the crime in Ahmici, residents of this village near Vitez were disturbed by a video that appeared on social media in which Kordic, in the company of several people, said: “When he (a friend) asked me if it was worth the prison if it was worth the war, I told him: ‘I would do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a second. Every second was worth it.”
Kordic’s statement was published on the Internet last week, but it has not yet been established exactly when and where this statement was made, nor under what circumstances. Kordic himself did not publicly comment on this recording.
The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has already confirmed that they formed a case based on the report for denying a crime, that is, glorifying criminals, which became punishable after the changes to the Criminal Code made by the former High Representative in BiH, Valentin Inzko.
Silence as encouragement and support
The survivors from Ahmici are especially disappointed by the silence and lack of distancing from this statement.
In recent days, numerous criticisms have been directed at the Croatian parties in the media and on social media due to the lack of reaction to the published video. The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) did not comment. This party in power, whose leaders had previously taken photos with Kordic after his release from prison, did not publicly comment after the publication of the video.
The president of the Croatian Republican Party and member of the Presidency of the Croatian National Assembly, Slaven Raguz, tried to justify Kordic’s statements on his Facebook profile. He wrote that last year someone asked Kordic “if it was worth it”, referring to serving a sentence for something that others had done, and that he replied “not that every year was worth it”, but “every second was worth it” and that he would repeat everything.
After the statement, numerous condemnations arrived, including those from victims’ associations, the Delegation of the European Union (EU), the Office of the High Representative (OHR), and the Embassy of the United States (U.S.) also spoke out.
“Dario Kordic’s shameful statement that he does not regret his actions during the war from 1992 to 1995 shows a terrible lack of shame and empathy towards all those who were killed by the forces he led in those years,” the EU Delegation stated on its Twitter profile.
High Representative Christian Schmidt announced that the glorification of war crimes is punishable by law.
“These comments of Dario Kordic could be understood as a glorification of his actions”, he stated in the statement and called on the Prosecutor’s Office to open an investigation in this case, as well as to check whether there are certain consequences regarding the judgment of the Hague Court in the case of “Kordic”.
His willingness to repeat his heinous actions shows that he has no remorse for the crimes he committed, the U.S. Embassy’s Twitter account said, Detektor reports.
E.Dz.
