In 1993, while war was scourging Bosnia, the UN Security Council accepted Resolution 827, and thereby established the International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It was hoped that the judicial persecution of war criminals would not only show the victims, but also perpetrators that those culpable of the worst crimes would be hold accountable and face punishment, thereby deterring future war criminals.

Nerma Jelacic from ICTY will discuss the impact of the ICTY on the political situation in the Balkan. How did the indictments effect the politicians in their ability to work in the public office, and in turn, how did the Tribunal deal with the strong negative current within the Balkan and the political campaigns against the ICTY, that were disputing its legitimacy.

About the speaker

Nerma Jelacic is the Head of Communications at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. In recent year she has worked as a consultant in countries as Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Nerma is one of the founders of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, a regional initiative promoting public interest journalism and media development in the Balkan. She established a series of media outlets providing daily coverage on war crimes trials, investigating legacies of the Yugoslav wars and promoting the principles of dealing with the past. She is a investigative reporter of war crimes and organized crime.