Bosnian Reporter Talks of IWPR Experience

A Bosnian trainee described the personal and professional impact of her work as an IWPR reporter covering war crimes trials in Sarajevo and The Hague.

Velma Saric wrote a moving account of how growing up in Bosnia amid the trauma of the war inspired her to dedicate her life to researching and reporting on war crimes.

"I have realised that my training and work with IWPR has given me the insight and professionalism to deal competently with very complicated issues and cases. It had made me grow - as a reporter, a researcher, an observer."
Velma Saric, IWPR trainee

After covering the trial of Bosnian Serb former army chief Milorad Trbic, who in September was sentenced to 30 years in prison for genocide, she said, "The report was the culmination of all the energy and effort I had put into court reporting; of what it all means to me both personally and professionally; as well as a reflection of what I have learned." 

She described how hearing the hours of emotional testimony from witnesses tested her professional responsibilities of balanced, fair reporting.

"Justice can only ever partially address victims' pain and suffering. It cannot bring the dead back to life, it cannot undo the rapes and the detention camps. But it can at least bring their stories out to the world," she wrote.

"With the Trbic case, I have realised that my training and work with IWPR has given me the insight and professionalism to deal competently with very complicated issues and cases. It had made me grow - as a reporter, a researcher, an observer. That is why this work is not only important - it is very rewarding, too."

Elsewhere, Facing Justice, a radio show produced by IWPR and Radio Free Europe, RFE, was lauded for its professional approach to covering Balkan war crimes issues.

International research organisation InterMedia carried out the independent audience research at the request of RFE, with whom IWPR produces the weekly radio programme.

This study required respondents based in Bosnia and Montenegro to evaluate several RFE programmes, including Facing Justice.

The feedback remarks praised, in particular, the impartial approach of the programme.

A respondent from Bosnia said that the programme "was very professional and good, especially because all angles were covered and the accused, defendants and prosecutors were all given a chance to speak".

A Montenegrin interviewee said that Facing Justice could help increase understanding of the causes and consequences of war crimes.

IWPR was also singled out for its coverage of a controversial judgement handed down by a Serbian court in the case of former high-ranking Bosnian police commander Ilija Jurisic, convicted of atrocities committed in May 1992 in the northern Bosnian town of Tuzla.

Observers said that IWPR reporter Aleksandar Roknic's article Conviction of Ex-Bosnian Police Commander Questioned contained facts that were simply not covered in the Serbian media.

Jurisic, a former Bosnian interior ministry officer and security official in Tuzla, was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment by the Belgrade district court's war crimes chamber after being found guilty of killing at least 51 members of the Yugoslav People's Army, JNA, and wounding at least 44, in an ambush by Bosnian police in Tuzla.

"Journalism in Serbia is biased and that is an obstacle to any form of dialogue and debate, which is necessary. "
Andrej Nosov, president of the Belgrade-based regional foundation Heartefact

Jurisic was arrested at Belgrade's international airport in 2007 as he tried to leave for Germany. Sarajevo protested, saying that holding the trial at the Serbian court had encroached on Bosnian state sovereignty.

Some human rights activists in Belgrade said that the court failed to establish his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Andrej Nosov, president of the Belgrade-based regional foundation Heartefact, said that IWPR's reporting included details that he had not seen reported in any other Serbian media.

IWPR's articles, he said, "are objective and based on facts, they present many different views and offer complete information".

"Journalism in Serbia is biased and that is an obstacle to any form of dialogue and debate, which is necessary. I found out that the [Belgrade-based] Humanitarian Law Fund criticised the Jurisic judgement only from IWPR's article on this case, because this has not been reported by other Serbian media," he said.

Aleksandar Rasovic, member of the Liberal Democratic Party in Serbia, said that the subjects IWPR writes about are, in general, very difficult, as they are related to war crimes and "Serbia's past which I would like to forget".

"However, we cannot just sweep those issues under the carpet and it's important that the public is constantly being informed about war crimes proceedings in The Hague and in local courts," he said.