There is no right that the first president of Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadžić, had in prison in the United Kingdom that has not been violated, stated lawyer Goran Petronijević.
According to him, a blatant example of torture against Karadžić is the decision of the British judicial authorities to ban Serb Orthodox priest Radmilo Stokić from visiting him.
“He had already visited Karadžić several times. He went to see him to fulfill his need for expressing faith and confession, which is the most sacred right belonging to every human being, regardless of religion. However, they even prevented that, which proves that all of Karadžić’s rights have been denied,” said Petronijević.
He emphasized that after this incident, all those who had been in contact with Karadžić were powerless to do anything to help him, since they had relied on conversations with him and his own accounts.
He stressed that they fully believe Karadžić, not the judicial authorities or those committing such violations of prison rights.
“But now we are powerless, because the Hague Tribunal, or rather the Residual Mechanism, when presented with evidence and told to look at what they are doing to a man and that they must react, denies it and says ‘everything is fine, he is making it up,’” Petronijević explained to Srna.
That everything is not fine, and far from it, he noted, is confirmed by the ban on priest Stokić’s visit, which is one of the clearest examples of torture against Karadžić.
Priest Radmilo Stokić was recently not allowed to visit Radovan Karadžić in the Albany prison on the Isle of Wight.
Stokić stated that he had visited Karadžić five times before, that he had again requested permission and scheduled the visit two weeks in advance, but that upon arriving at the prison, he was denied entry despite traveling for eight hours.
He added that he has been a chaplain of the Serb Orthodox Church for 20 years, has entered many prisons from Scandinavia to Estonia and other countries where Serb prisoners are held, and never once encountered a situation where he was banned from entering a prison chapel.
“Until now, it had never happened that I was unable to hold a service, to hear confessions, or give communion to prisoners. This has only happened in a ‘Christian country’ such as England, which is inhumane, unacceptable, and intolerable,” said Stokić.
Source: RTRS
