Serbia - News according to Justice Info

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Our news in Serbia, clear and analytic

The rise of nationalism in Serbia played a central role in the conflicts that led to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The Serbian government, under the leadership of Slobodan Milošević at the time, was accused of supporting and encouraging ethnic Serb groups in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina to engage in and participate in brutal military operations in these countries. It was also accused of massive human rights violations in Kosovo. National prosecutions for war crimes in Serbia began in 2003. In February 2016, a strategy to address these crimes was adopted, but no significant progress has been reported. On the international front, it took 20 years for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to complete its last trial in 2023, that of two former Serbian intelligence officials, Franko Simatovic and Jovica Stanisic. With Milošević himself having passed away during his trial, they are the highest-ranking Serbian state representatives convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity among the 90 convictions handed down by the ICTY since its establishment in 1993. Justice Info provides updates on the evolving situation.

In Serbia, denial of the Srebrenica genocide could lead to a new conflict. Photo: A person walks past a mural depicting the former military leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Ratko Mladic, in a street in Belgrade, Serbia.

Opinion

30 years after: How denial can fuel a new conflict

11 July 2025 by Refik Hodžić

While the denial of the Srebrenica genocide has become official policy in Serbia and Republika Srpska it is now amplified by geopolitical alliances with countries that actively undermine international law, as Refik Hodžić explains.

30 years after Srebrenica: Serbia in genocide denial. Photo: In a Belgrade street, the following graffiti can be seen above a shop:

Opinion

30 years after: Serbia in denial about genocide

10 July 2025 by Massimo Moratti

The general mood in Serbia is far from commemorative. For the Serbian authorities, all parties committed crimes during the war, so no one is guilty.

Srebrenica 30 years on: who was convicted of the genocide? Photo: in the foreground, the inscription ‘Srebrenica - Juli 1995’ and in the background, a veiled woman meditates in front of the memorial displaying the names of the victims.

30 years after: Who has been convicted of crimes in Srebrenica?

8 July 2025 by Nermina Kuloglija

A total of 54 people have been convicted for genocide and other crimes committed in Srebrenica. On the 30th anniversary of the genocide, Detektor, in collaboration with Justice Info, looks back at the main trials and judgments.

Stanisic and Simatovic trial - The 2 war criminals Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic at their appeal trial in The Hague (UN-IRMCT).

After 30 years, the UN court’s last verdict on former Yugoslavia

2 June 2023 by Molly Quell

It took a record 20 years for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia – created in May 1993 and later replaced by “the Mechanism” – to complete the trial of two former Serbian spy masters. Arrested in 2003 [...]

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A man is standing on a stage with a large Serbian flag in the background. He is holding a small flag of the European Union.

6 January 2023 by Massimo Moratti

Is war crimes prosecution in Serbia just “ticking boxes”? The prosecution of war crimes in Serbia for the conflicts of the 1990s mirrors the political developments of Serbian society in the last 10 years. The strategy designed in 2016 was considered a necessary step towards the country’s [...]

Stanisic and Simatovic at the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague

1 July 2021 by Stephanie van den Berg

Stanisic and Simatovic: slim convictions in longest running Yugoslav trial On June 30, a former head of Serbian state security and his subordinate were convicted for crimes in just one Bosnian town, and sentenced to 12 years in jail. But this retrial in the longest Yugoslav case before the UN court in Th [...]

Trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic

19 April 2021 by Stephanie van den Berg

Last trial, last chance at the U.N. court for the former Yugoslavia The retrial of two former Serbian spy masters is the last trial that the U.N. court for the former Yugoslavia and its successor institution, the Residual Mechanism, will hold about the 1990s conflicts that ravaged the former Yugos [...]

11 May 2018 by AFP

Kosovo war crimes weigh heavy on Serbian film 'The Load' at Cannes Serbian director Ognjen Glavonic says the topic of his new film, which tackles the lingering horror of the Kosovo war, probably explains why his script was rejected seven times. "Teret" (The Load), which will screen at Cannes on S [...]

23 April 2018 by AFP

Karadzic urges UN judges to throw out war crimes conviction Once-feared Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic Monday urged UN judges to overturn his conviction for war crimes during the Balkans conflict, and either acquit him or order a new trial. Appearing at the start of his two-day appea [...]

11 April 2018 by AFP

Vojislav Seselj: Unrepentant Serb ultranationalist Serb academic turned far-right leader Vojislav Seselj, who was found guilty Wednesday by a UN court of crimes against humanity, won notoriety during the 1990s Balkan wars for his incendiary rhetoric and remains defiant in defendin [...]

18 January 2017 by AFP

Serbia and Kosovo declare war of words A propagandist train, a rising wall and the ghosts of the late 1990s conflict: Serbia and Kosovo are engaged in a disturbing war of symbols and words, unprecedented in recent years. "Kosovo is Serbia" said a message in 20 language [...]

31 March 2016 by AFP

Seselj: firebrand believer in 'Greater Serbia' A Serb academic turned far-right leader, Vojislav Seselj won notoriety during the 1990s Balkan wars for his incendiary rhetoric and remained defiant over more than a decade in detention at The Hague. The stocky and ruddy-faced 61- [...]

31 March 2016 by AFP

UN judges acquit Serb leader Seselj UN war crimes judges Thursday acquitted radical Serb leader Vojislav Seselj on all nine charges of committing atrocities in the 1990s Balkans wars in a surprise verdict swiftly denounced as "shameful" by Croatia The three-judge pa [...]

29 March 2016 by AFP

UN judges to deliver verdict on defiant Serb nationalist UN war crimes judges will deliver another landmark verdict Thursday, this time against firebrand radical Serb leader Vojislav Seselj -- but in the absence of the defiant defendant, who has refused to return to The Hague. Exactly a [...]

23 March 2016 by AFP

Karadzic expects acquittal in UN war crimes court: report Wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said "no reasonable court" would convict him, in an interview published Wednesday, a day before a UN tribunal rules on whether he committed some of Europe's worst atrocities since World [...]

13 March 2016 by AFP

UN war crimes prosecutor eyes end to long Karadzic trial It may have taken over two decades but as the verdict looms in the trial of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, his UN prosecutor says it's never too late for justice. More than 20 years after the excruciating 44-month siege of [...]

10 July 2015 by Julia Crawford, JusticeInfo.Net

Serbia Needs Responsible Attitude on Genocide, says Human Rights Lawyer As Bosnia prepared to mark 20 years on Saturday since Srebenica massacres, the UK this week proposed a Resolution seeking to have the UN Security Council declare the events in Srebenica as genocide. Despite negotiations and a post [...]