Swedish TV slammed for Srebrenica 'denial'
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has strongly criticised Sveriges Television (SVT) for a documentary covering the massacre in Srebrenica.
In August SVT broadcast a Norwegian-made documentary entitled "Staden som offrades" (literally: the sacrificed city) and has since been met with a storm of criticism from Swedish-Bosnians accusing the broadcaster of sacrificing the truth.
The storm of protest has now reached the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) which has sent a strongly worded letter to SVT head Eva Hamilton in protest, according to a report in the Dagens Nyheter (DN) daily.
The ICTY has underlined that several rulings have established that the Srebenica massacres constituted genocide, arguing that there is clear evidence that most of the victims died not in combat but as a result of mass executions.
Jasenko Selimovic, state secretary to integration minister Erik Ullenhag, was among those to react to the film, accusing SVT of "denying the genocide".
The film claims that the city was "sacrificed" by the then Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic to encourage the west to attack Serbia, with the support of the US administration.
According to Selimovic the film also paints suspected war criminal Ratko Mladic as a "good guy" looking for a solution to the situation and forwards claims that NATO troops fought on the Bosnian side.
In its letter to Eva Hamilton, the ICTY underlined that there a raft of rulings in the tribunal which establish "beyond any reasonable doubt" that the events in Srebrenica in 1995 concerned a planned mass murder.
The film was last month criticised by the Norwegian Broadcasting Commission (Pressens Falige Utvalg) for having "broken press ethics", DN reported.
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In August SVT broadcast a Norwegian-made documentary entitled "Staden som offrades" (literally: the sacrificed city) and has since been met with a storm of criticism from Swedish-Bosnians accusing the broadcaster of sacrificing the truth.
The storm of protest has now reached the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) which has sent a strongly worded letter to SVT head Eva Hamilton in protest, according to a report in the Dagens Nyheter (DN) daily.
The ICTY has underlined that several rulings have established that the Srebenica massacres constituted genocide, arguing that there is clear evidence that most of the victims died not in combat but as a result of mass executions.
Jasenko Selimovic, state secretary to integration minister Erik Ullenhag, was among those to react to the film, accusing SVT of "denying the genocide".
The film claims that the city was "sacrificed" by the then Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic to encourage the west to attack Serbia, with the support of the US administration.
According to Selimovic the film also paints suspected war criminal Ratko Mladic as a "good guy" looking for a solution to the situation and forwards claims that NATO troops fought on the Bosnian side.
In its letter to Eva Hamilton, the ICTY underlined that there a raft of rulings in the tribunal which establish "beyond any reasonable doubt" that the events in Srebrenica in 1995 concerned a planned mass murder.
The film was last month criticised by the Norwegian Broadcasting Commission (Pressens Falige Utvalg) for having "broken press ethics", DN reported.
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