GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Goran Hadzic, 52, the last of the 14 Serb leaders accused of war crimes during the Croatian war who was still at large has been arrested. He was taken in at 08:35 Tuesday morning 20 July in a forest near the village of village Krusedol in the Fruska Gora region about 100 km northwest of Belgrade, said Vladimir Vukcevic Wednesday, confirming local media reports Tuesday. Vukcevic is the Serbian prosecutor for war crimes.
Hadzic was carrying a pistol at the time of his arrest but did not resist, according to Vukcevic. He had been in hiding since 2004. The news was announced by Serbia’s president, Boris Tadic, who said that Hadzic was not arrested in an Orthodox monastery as local media had reported earlier.
The European Union promptly congratulated Serbia, which has been accused until recently of lagging in its efforts to find the accused former leaders. The news is likely to speed up Serbia’s entry into the European Union.
Hadzic’s name is linked to the murder of 250 Croatians and other non-Serbs who had taken refuge in the Vukovar Hospital in November 1991 before they were rounded up and shot. He is accused of attempting the forced transfer out of the region of some 27,000 people.
Ed. note: Barbara Ender, an occasional contributor to GenevaLunch, is a Lausanne-based travel editor.
Walking through history
By Barbara Ender
Zadar, Croatia (©2011, Barbara Ender)
“Would you like a free hug?”
An offer I couldn’t refuse. I turned to see a group of cheerful girls in orange T-shirts, opened my arms and embraced all the youth and joie de vivre of Zadar. A memorable, tactile introduction to one of Croatia’s most delightful cities, golden, vibrant, resilient, young at heart.
Young at heart—but old in its bones. The city is built on a peninsula, just 1km long and 300m wide. Founded by Illyrians 3,000 years ago, it has been ruled and planned by Romans, Byzantines, Franks and Venetians, attacked by Ottomans, ravaged by Huns, Ostrogoths, Crusaders and bubonic plague, bombed by the Allies in the second world war and shelled by Krajina rebels and the Yugoslav People’s Army from 1991 to 1995.
Rebuilt, restored, snug within its massive Venetian ramparts, it is a crazy quilt of architectural styles, and a miracle of survival.
Zadar, Croatia, side street (©2011, Barbara Ender)
Most visitors arrive on cruise ships or ferries and enter the city from the harbour at the western end, but I was staying overnight in a big hotel outside the walls on the mainland.
As the afternoon began to close, I walked past the tiny Fosa marina, beneath the sculpted Venetian lion on the Land Gate, through the walls into the long and narrow main street that follows the course of the ancient Roman cardo towards its crossing with the decumanus at the Forum.
On each side, enticing little side streets beckon, some dark and mysterious, others gleaming red and ochre in the dwindling light, others trying to lure me into ancient peeling courtyards festooned with laundry. High heels clatter along the limestone pavement, giggling students pass by, two to a bicycle, but I walk straight on, intent on my goal.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Austria has agreed to extradite Croatia’s former prime minister, Ivo Sanader, who is wanted on charges of money laundering and corruption. Sanader’s attorney, who calls the charges politically motivated, says his client will appeal. Unconfirmed reports from the Bulgarian News Agency indicate that some euros 4 million in assets of his were frozen in Austria and Croatia in late April.
Sanader resigned from politics, stepping down as prime minister, in July 2009, but he then said he would re-enter politics in January 2010. He was arrested in Austria in December 2010, a day after he fled across the border, not long after former colleagues were arrested in November 2010.
Links to other sites: Deutsche Welt, Sofia Echo
Fifa named best for press facilities for 2010 World Cup by world sports journalists
Rafael Nadal wins US Open 2010 (photo, Ella Ling)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The AIPS (International Sports Press Association) has named Rafael Nadal the world’s top male athlete and Blanka Vlasic the top female, in its annual sports awards. Nadal, Spanish is the number one tennis player in the world and Vlasic, from Croatia, has won 18 of 20 high-jumping competitions in 2010, and she currently holds the world indoor and European titles.
The AIPS named Fifa, the world football federation, as the organization providing the best media facilities, at the 2010 football World Cup matches in South Africa. The IOC, International Olympic Committee, was second, for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. The AIPS and the IOC are both based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Close of Olympic Games for doping
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne has stripped Rashid Ramzi from Bahrein of his gold medal. He won the men’s 1,500 metre race in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Italian Davide Rebellin, who placed second in the men’s road cycle event, will have to return his silver medal, the IOC announced. The world governing body for the Olympic Games sanctioned three other athletes who participated in the Beijing Olympics for using the banned hormone CERA, 18 November.
The IOC’s zero-tolerance policy in the use of endurance or performance-enhancing drugs means that it will store blood and urine samples taken during the Games for eight years so that the laboratories can do retroactive testing.
Genoa, Italy (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer overcame jetlag, slow clay courts and rain, not to mention Potito Storace, to give Switzerland a winning position in their World Group play-off against Italy. He won 6-3 6-0 6-4 to add to the two Swiss singles victories on Friday, which were followed by a loss in the doubles as Federer was rested.
Flushing Meadows, New York (GenevaLunch) – Third seed Rafael Nadal showed he was in good form yesterday in the fourth round of the US open by beating Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-1 6-3, despite a reported intestinal problem, and after coming back from serious knee injuries earlier this year.
In the other matches 8 September at Flushing Meadows, Long Island, Croatia’s Marin Cilic beat Briton Andy Murray 7-5 6-2 6-2 to qualify for the quarter-finals; Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from France 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-4, and Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro trounced Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-3 6-3. BBC Sports, US Open site
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland moved to the top of its qualifying group for the 2010 Fifa World Cup with a 2-0 win over Greece in their match. The Swiss scored two goals in the final 10 minutes after playing much of the game with an extra man as Vyntra was sent off for receiving two yellow cards.
