“U.S. supports transfer of Hague convicts”

AUSTRIA

Serbia has received clear approval from the U.S. to have Serbia citizens convicted by the Hague Tribunal transferred to serve their time in Serbia.

According to Justice Minister Snežana Malović, this approval has nothing to do with the so-called “secret deal” to have convicts from Guantanamo Bay transferred to Serbia as well.

“During a recent visit to the U.S. Justice Department, I mentioned the idea of our citizens who were convicted by the Tribunal serving their time in Serbia, and American officials absolutely agreed with this. There was a similar reaction to the idea by the Hague President during his visit to Belgrade,” Malović told the Frankfurt Vesti daily.

“We want to finish all diplomatic activities and then we will submit an official demand to the United Nations Security Council, which is the only body with the mandate to decide on something like this,” she said.

“Our basic argument is that the circumstances which forced the UN Secretary General to prohibit the serving of prisoner terms in countries of origin over the last 15 years have changed ,” Malović said.

She said that the rumors that Serbia will have to play host to Guantanamo Bay prisoners in return are absolutely false.