The case against the Bosnian-Serb former commander Ratko Mladić started May 16, 2012, after he had been a fugitive for more than sixteen years. Mladić is accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, including the murder of 7000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica.

Documentary maker Lidija Zelović fled from Sarajevo during the war. She will tell us why she doesn’t follow the trial. What does she consider necessary to bring more reconciliation to Bosnia? Lada Šoljan working for the Yugoslavia Tribunal will give us an insight into the most important issues and the development of the case. How hard is it to convict a war criminal? And how does the famous Syrian writer and dissident Yassin al-Haj Saleh reflect on the importance of the tribunal with regard to the war in his own country?

About the speakers

Lada Šoljan has been practicing in the field of international criminal law since mid-2005. She is currently a Legal Officer in the Immediate Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). She previously served in both the Appeals and Trial Divisions, prosecuting cases involving military, political and police leaders at both the trial and appellate levels, including in relation to the Srebrenica genocide. Lada is listed as an expert on the Justice Rapid Response (JRR) Sexual and Gender Based Violence Investigations Roster, and has provided training to diverse audiences on different international humanitarian and international criminal law topics.  She is a Contributor to the Prosecuting Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (PSV) Network of the International Association of Prosecutors, and is a contributing author to the book “Prosecuting Conflict-Related Sexual Violence at the ICTY.”

Lidija Zelović grew up in Sarajevo, in what was then still called Yugoslavia. In 1993 she fled to the Netherlands. As a war correspondent for e.g. the BBC, and later as film maker she tries to come closer to the truth behind war. She made the documentary ‘My friends‘, about the consequences of the war on her best friends, who grew up with her in Sarajevo. In her latest, very personal documentary, ‘My own private war‘ she tries to find out how a person can come to terms with its own war past.

Syrian Yassin al-Haj Saleh is regarded as one of the most influential Arab writers and dissidents as well as a prominent intellectual voice of the Syrian revolution. He writes on political, social and cultural subjects relating to Syria and the Arab world. He has been granted a Prince Claus Award for 2012 as “actually a tribute to the Syrian people and the Syrian revolution.

Moderator is Dov Jacobs, Assistant Professor in International Law at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies at Leiden University.

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