Wednesday, March 31, 2004

I Work Hard for My Money

Powell suspends aid to Serbia which decides to pay Milosevic a salary.

Because of its refusal to extradite sixteen war crime suspects to the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Serbia-Montenegro won't be receiving about $26 million of American aid. Serbia's defense minister says the suspension would exacerbate the already struggling economy.

Apparently things aren't really that bad though because yesterday the Serbian parliament decided to pay for salaries and legal fees of Milosevic and other Serbian war crime suspects who are being tried at The Hague. In addition, the travel and mailing expenses of some family members will be covered. A lawmaker in favor of the measure said, "We will never forget how Milosevic was kidnapped and illegally sent there."

The war crimes tribunal's foreign location may have contributed to the emergence of denial and revisionism in Serbia. Trying former leaders hundreds of miles away does little to provide closure or memory within a country where the atrocities took place.

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