Serbian Municipality Supports War Criminal’s PR Event

The municipality of Negotin has posted an announcement on its official Facebook page for an event on Wednesday evening to promote a new book by convicted Serbian war criminal Veselin Sljivancanin at the public library in the eastern Serbian town.

The holding of the event at the Dositej Novakovic public library in Negotin to promote Sljivancanin's book, Ovo je Moja Zemlja, Ovde Ja Komandujem (This is My Country, Here I Command), has been condemned by anti-war organisations.

Two Belgrade-based NGOs, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Centre, said that the use of public facilities for Sljivancanin's event was unacceptable.

"Sljivancanin, like any other citizen, has the civil right to promote his books in private spaces and at his own expense, but if he does so in a public institution and with state support, then it is clear that it is a glorification of a convicted war criminal, who is still a member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party," the Youth Initiative for Human Rights said a statement on Wednesday, urging the library in Negotin not to allow the event to go ahead.

The Humanitarian Law Centre wrote on Twitter that "it is inadmissible for public cultural institutions to continually provide space for the promotion of the work of convicted war criminals".

Nedopustivo je da javne ustanove kulture kontinuirano ustupaju prostor za promociju dela osuđenih ratnih zločinaca. pic.twitter.com/0DnNvAeE6b

— Fond za humanitarno pravo (@FHPHLC) September 7, 2021

Former Yugoslav People's Army officer Sljivancanin was found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in 2007 of aiding and abetting the torture of prisoners, and...