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Karadzic verdict mustn't be used against all Serbs: Serbian gov't

Xinhua, March 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

Serbia will not allow the verdict against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague to be used against Serbian people, said a release after a government session on Friday.

The Serbian government held a session dedicated to Thursday's sentencing of Karadzic at ICTY to 40 years' imprisonment for the genocide in Srebrenica and crimes against humanity.

Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic said: "It is unacceptable to put collective guilt on whole nations because of crimes conducted by individuals."

"We will not allow that the first instance verdict against the former president of the Republika Srpska to be used as a reason to point a finger against us and our compatriots," he added.

He noted that this verdict cannot be used with the aim to endanger the freedom and survival of the Serbian people in the Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Selakovic pointed out that the government's attitude is to maintain a serious and responsible policy towards all Serbs, including those in Republika Srpska (RS) as well as to remain dedicated to stability and peace.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Thursday that Serbia had the obligation to take care of its people also outside Serbia's borders and that it would always stand by its people and protect their survival, as well as the right to the existence of RS.

Karadzic, former supreme commander of the Bosnian Serb armed forces and president of the Republika Srpska, was held responsible for the deaths of thousands, including the lost lives during the siege of Sarajevo between April 1992 and November 1995 and the massacre in Srebrenica in July 1995, in which over 7,000 Muslim men were reportedly killed by Bosnian Serb forces. Endit