Former general of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), Radislav Krstić, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison in The Hague for supporting and aiding the genocide in Srebrenica, admitted responsibility and stated that he regrets his participation in the genocide.
Krstić wrote in his letter asking the court for early release that he himself would vote for the United Nations Resolution on Srebrenica.
"I do not have the right to vote because my name is also mentioned in this Resolution because I committed an unimaginable and unforgivable criminal act," Krstić stated in a letter to the president of the court.
Krstić also wrote that, if he had the opportunity, he would go to Potočare to "pay homage" to the victims of the genocide.
"If one day I am released, and if the president of the Mechanism agrees with it and if the families of the victims allow it, I would like to be in Potočari one more time in my life, to bow to the shadows of the victims and ask for forgiveness," wrote Krstić.
In the letter, Krstić stated that he accepts the verdicts of the Tribunal from 2001 and 2004, in which it was determined that the forces of the army to which he belonged committed genocide against Bosniak civilians in July 1995 and that he "aided and abetted the genocide."
He confirmed the part from the verdict that he knew that "some members of the Main Staff intend to commit genocide", but that this staff "did not have enough strength to carry out the shootings" without "using the Drina Corps", which Krstić commanded at the time.
"I knew that the use of forces under my command would significantly contribute to the execution of Bosniak prisoners," Krstić stated in the letter.
He also confirmed that he aided and abetted the crime against humanity by participating in the joint criminal enterprise of the forcible removal of Bosniak civilians from Potočari, from July 10 to 13, 1995.
"Participated in the creation of a humanitarian crisis that preceded the forced relocation of women, children and the elderly from Srebrenica, in which I also participated, knowing that civilians in Potočari were exposed to murder, rape, beatings and abuse," Krstić wrote.
Krstić also stated that he is also addressing the public in the former Yugoslavia with a letter.
"I am asking that this letter of mine be made public, that my words be heard by as many people as possible in the country I am from, that maybe my words encourage at least someone to think about the terrible crime in which I participated, about the punishment that followed, about the deep, painful , but to the belated regret that I have been living with for decades," Krstić wrote.
He added that the genocide in Srebrenica was committed by individuals and that they should be held accountable for their "deeds and misdeeds", as well as that he was "unfortunately one of them".
"I would like my words to be read and understood by young people who today live in the areas where there used to be a country called Yugoslavia (...), to stop and think - never again. Never again war, never again death because someone of another religion, nation, or other belief, never again genocide," Krstić wrote.
Krstić is currently in the custody unit of the court in The Hague, and he previously served a sentence of 35 years in prison in Poland and Great Britain.
The final verdict against Krstić is the first in which the Hague Tribunal found that the VRS committed genocide in Srebrenica.
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