Film screening: "The Case Against Ratko Mladic"

This is a no-holds-barred documentary about when the man behind some of the worst crimes in history was finally brought to justice in 2012. That was 20 years after the leader of the Bosnian-Serbian Army, Ratko Mladic, gave the order to lay siege to Sarajevo, and after the genocide in Srebrenica that was intended to wipe out all non-Serbs.

The court case before the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia offered an opportunity for final reconciliation, and the documentary follows the five-year court case from both sides. The film is an excruciating portrait of Mladic’s crimes, but also a breathlessly fascinating meeting with his defence attorneys, witnesses and family.

First screening:
Wednesday, 27 February 2019, 6:15 p.m., Vega Scene.
Following the screening, there will be a panel discussion in Salongen at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets.

Second screening:
Friday, 1 March 2019, 6:00 p.m., Cinemateket.
Following the screening, there will be a Q&A with the directors.
Tickets.

About “The Case Against Ratko Mladic” and the following panel, on Wednesday, 27 February.
“The Cast Against Ratko Mladic” tells the story of what happened when the man responsible for some of the worst war crimes in modern European history was brought to court. Ratko Mladic was the chief commander of the Bosnian Serb Army during the civil war in Bosnia. He was one of the leaders of the army during the Srebrenica genocide in 1995, where at least 7000 Bosnian Muslims were killed. After living in hiding for 16 years after the end of the war, he was arrested and prosecuted by an international court, the Yugoslavia Tribunal, in The Haag.

The documentary follows the five-year trial from both sides. In addition to following the attorneys on the case, the film tells the stories of victims, witnesses and even of Mladic’s own family. It also raises bigger issues about the challenges of getting justice for war crimes.

What kind of justice can a case achieve 20 years later? What is it like to defend and prosecute a man who has committed genocide? What lessons can we learn from what happened in Bosnia in the current climate, where polarisation and the politics of division are once again on the rise?

The panel discussion will begin at 8.30 p.m. in Salongen. It will feature:

• Dermot Groome, former senior trial attorney at the Office of the Prosecutor for International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Chief Prosecutor in the case against Mladic, was in the film “The Cast Against Ratko Mladic”.
• Branko Lukic, Ratko Mladic’s defence lawyer in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), was also in the film “The Cast Against Ratko Mladic”.
• Enver Djuliman, Senior Adviser, The Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Author of the book: Reconciliation (signs along the way), published in 2016, about reconciliation processes in various post-conflict areas, including the Balkans.
• Also participating are Henry Singer and Rob Miller, the filmmakers behind “The Cast Against Ratko Mladic”.
• Moderator: Ingerid Salvesen, journalist for the podcast “Du Verden!”