NATO must be held accountable for the catastrophic consequences of bombing Serbia and Republika Srpska with depleted uranium, and this organization that funds wars worldwide should compensate the citizens who are massively suffering and dying from cancer as a result of those bombings, said Niš lawyer Srđan Aleksić during the promotion of his book “Projectiles of Justice” in Bijeljina.
Aleksić stated that “Balkan Syndrome” is the term for cancer caused by exposure to depleted uranium in areas bombed by NATO, including the Sarajevo neighborhood of Hadžići, Han Pijesak, and other locations in Republika Srpska.
“Lawyer Angelo Tartaglia from Italy has been representing Italian soldiers on this topic for 20 years. The first case was for a soldier who was stationed in Hadžići, and so far, there have been more than 400 judgments with compensation of up to two million euros,” Aleksić said.
He emphasized that he is working in the same way in Serbia, conducting biopsy analyses in Italy for every cancer patient or deceased person who was in a territory bombed with depleted uranium, noting that the cost of this analysis is 65 euros.
“Two analyses have been done for Serbian citizens, and both had 500 times more depleted uranium in their bodies. Based on these analyses, we can prove in court a causal link with NATO bombing and the committed ecocide, as they have polluted our soil, water, and air, and we will face catastrophic consequences for the next 4.5 billion years,” Aleksić explained.
He stated that he filed the first lawsuit in Serbia in 2001 for a Serb Army colonel, but NATO’s response was that they have immunity.
“The Serbia Government did grant them immunity to pass through Serbia, but not to commit war crimes by bombing citizens. NATO has sown 15 tons of depleted uranium in Serbia, equivalent to 170 atomic bombs. They are obliged to pay compensation, treat our citizens, and clean up the remaining ammunition,” Aleksić assessed.
He believes in positive judgments and emphasizes that justice should be sought in domestic courts, and based on court rulings, compensation should be sought from NATO through the Vienna Convention.
Aleksić mentioned that he has filed 35 such cases before the Higher Court in Belgrade and initiates about 10 new cases every month, suing NATO in the domestic court where the damage occurred, where a person’s right to life and health was violated.
He noted that he worked on the book “Projectiles of Justice” for four years, that it is being translated into Russian and German, and announced a second edition supplemented with new evidence of NATO’s culpability for the depleted uranium bombings and the cancer epidemic in the affected areas.
The book promotion in Bijeljina was held at the “Semberija” Cultural Center and was its first presentation in Republika Srpska.
Source: RTRS
