asymmetrical haircuts

Why do people plead guilty at an international tribunal? And is it common for women to be war criminals? Olivera Simic, professor at Griffith Law School in Brisbane Australia, has chosen a fascinating subject for her latest book: former Bosnian Serb president Biljana Plavsic. She was the only woman to be convicted by the the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and also the only former high ranking Bosnian Serb politician to plead guilty.

Plavsic has served her time in a Swedish prison. She was later released to Serbia where she moved into the Belgrade neighbourhood Vracar (a neighbourhood Steph knows well).

We focus on how Plavsic interacted with the ICTY, her views on that court and what it says about courts and accountability and guilty pleas.

We also touched on the media post prison media presence of Veselin Sljivancanin and Vojislav Seselj.

The book is called “Madam War Criminal“. It had a great review from Philippe Sands in the Observer. For more context, we previously had a pod – episode 99 – with Alette Smeulers on perpetrators and really early on – episode 4 (!) – we tackled the afterlife of perpetrators with Barbora Hola.

For picks, Olivera recommended our own pod – thank you! – and The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast, Netflix’s I’m a Killer, Peter Beinart ‘s “Being Jewish after the Destruction of Gaza: a Reckoning“, and Gideon Levy’s “The Killing of Gaza: Reports on a Catastrophe“

Next week states gather for the annual meeting of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court. This year, rather than the usual push and pull over the budget, efficiency and whether the court is achieving much, the focus will be on United States sanctions against the court and whether states plan to really support the institution they created in 1998.

With six judges – a third of the roster – under personal sanction, alongside the prosecutor and two deputies, and the prospect of institutional sanctions by the Trump administration to try to stop the court from investigating its Israeli allies, the main issue is whether the court can even survive.

But also looming is the investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by the prosecutor – an accusation he denies – which rumbles on, lacking transparency and is being used as political fodder by the court’s detractors. Our last podcast on the process is here. To outline how NGOs are feeling, we chatted to Danya Chaikel, the FIDH representative to the court.

Altogether a perilous moment for the international justice and accountability crowd to gather. And we will be there to report (and give out tote bags).

This podcast has been produced as part of a partnership with JusticeInfo.net, an independent website in French and English covering justice initiatives in countries dealing with serious violence. It is a media outlet of Fondation Hirondelle, based in Lausanne, Switzerland.