 |
| The face of genocide. |
Back when I was in high school, when we still had Dodos and carrier pigeons, there was a genocide going on during the breakup of Yugoslavia. The true face of it was a guy named Milosevic, but he died while awaiting trial, so that honor fell to Radovan Karadzic, the guy you see above.
I haven't thought about this fucker in a very long time, and I came across an interesting little tidbit a few weeks ago that kind of floored me. Karadzic was found guilty of genocide and other war crimes and crimes against humanity. You'd think the sentence for that kind of behavior would be harsh, but that's the tidbit I came across that bothered me.
Do you think committing genocide is worth 40 years in prison? Because that's all he received when he was originally sentenced back in the 'Nineties. I couldn't help but wonder if that was with or without the possibility of parole. Talk about a slap on the wrist. It's especially galling because his subordinates had been given life sentences for carrying out his orders, and he got a mere 40 years. Shit does, indeed, roll downhill.
The prosecutors didn't believe that was adequate punishment for genocide, so they appealed the decision while Karadzic himself had the nerve to submit an appeal to reduce his sentence. Holy fucking shit. The balls, man. The fucking balls.
Thankfully things worked out. The sentence was increased to LIFE. That guy is never leaving prison, and that is good. But it makes me think about what people used to say of Hitler's genocide: "Never again." Since then scholars believe 37(-ish?) more genocides have happened. So much for "never." But it brings to mind modern times. When certain people stand before the Hague, I wonder what their punishment will be. 20 years and time off for good behavior? Or will it be a literal slap on the wrist? I can see the judge now: "What you did was very bad, and you should never do that again."
Now go to your room . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment