They would never hurt a fly : war criminals on trial in The Hague

In her novel S., Slavenka Drakulic ́ explored the horror of genocide and the lives that were ripped apart during the Bosnian conflict of the early 1990s. Now, in They Would Never Hurt a Fly, she confronts one of the consequences of that war—the prisoners being tried at The Hague for their war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.During that terrible and bloody clash, countless humans were tortured, raped, and murdered—unspeakable acts committed in the name of “ethnic cleansing” and all authorized by the government. Drakulic ́ introduces readers to the accused—from the infamous to the unknown to the unquestionably guilty, including former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic ́—seeking to understand the people behind the horrific crimes. She asserts that the trials are important not just because of the dead, but also because of the living. “In the end,” she writes about the war criminals, “what matters... is one single important question: what would I do in their situation?” Slavenka Drakulic Confronts One Of Recent History's Most Difficult And Important Subjects In Her New Book, They Would Never Hurt A Fly. An Examination Of The War Criminals Being Prosecuted By The International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia (icty) In The Hague, The Book Shows Drakulic At Her Most Incisive As She Seeks To Understand The People Behind The Horrific Crimes Committed During The Most Brutal Conflict In Europe In The Last Fifty Years. Drawing Partly On Her Own Observations Of The Trials, Partly On Other Sources, Drakulic Portrays Some Of The Individuals Accused Of Murder, Rape, Torture, Ordering Executions, And More During The War That Tore Apart Yugoslavia In The 1990s. Notable Among Them Are Former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic; Radislav Krstic, The First To Be Sentenced For Genocide; Biljana Plavsic, The Only Woman Accused Of War Crimes; And Ratko Mladic, In Hiding And Being Tried In Absentia. Drakulic Also Tells The Stories Of Milan Levar, A War Veteran And Witness Who Was Murdered When He Tried To Speak Out, And Of Mirjana Mira Markovic, The Influential Wife Of Milosevic.--jacket. Not A Fairy Tale -- Why The Hague -- Justice Is Boring -- A Suicide Scenario -- A Quiet Night In October -- Boys Just Had Fun -- He Would Never Hurt A Fly -- Triumph Of Evil -- One Day In The Life Of Draz̆en Erdemović -- A Beast In A Cage -- Ribbons And Bows -- Punished By The Gods -- The Metamorphosis Of Biljana Plavs̆ić -- Why We Need Monsters -- Brotherhood And Unity. Slavenka Drakulić. In her novel S., Slavenka Drakulic? explored the horror of genocide and the lives that were ripped apart during the Bosnian conflict of the early 1990s. Now, in They Would Never Hurt a Fly, she confronts one of the consequences of that war—the prisoners being tried at The Hague for their war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. During that terrible and bloody clash, countless humans were tortured, raped, and murdered—unspeakable acts committed in the name of “ethnic cleansing” and all authorized by the government. Drakulic? introduces readers to the accused—from the infamous to the unknown to the unquestionably guilty, including former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic?—seeking to understand the people behind the horrific crimes. She asserts that the trials are important not just because of the dead, but also because of the living. “In the end,” she writes about the war criminals, “what matters... is one single important question: what would I do in their situation?” An examination of the defendants on trial at The Hague for crimes committed during the war in the former Yugoslavia introduces readers to infamous and lesser-known accused individuals while describing the acts they committed in the name of ethnic cleansing. Reprint.