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CNN Live At Daybreak
War Crimes Tribunal, Plasvic Sentencing
Aired December 17, 2002 - 06:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go to The Hague right now, where former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has appeared before a UN war crimes tribunal. Albright was testifying in the trial of the former Bosnian leader. She's a 72-year-old woman, who was nicknamed the "Iron Lady," and she has pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity.
Christiane Amanpour is live in the Netherlands with details.
Good morning again.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.
Biljana Plasvic has pleaded guilty and becomes the first senior member of the Bosnian Serb leadership to do so. Crimes such as ethnic cleansing, the persecution of minorities, helping round up people and send them off to internment camps, the destruction of cultural property -- all the sorts of things that we saw during Bosnia's war in the 1990s.
Now, here, today, Madeleine Albright, the former U.S. secretary of state, becomes the first ever U.S. government official to testify at this tribunal. Remember, Madeleine Albright was the voice and the face of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of the administration at that time, calling loudly for an end to Serb genocide in Bosnia.
Now, she is here to talk about Biljana Plasvic at her sentencing hearing. She's saying that, yes, horrendous crimes were committed, that Biljana Plasvic is not exonerated by her admission of guilt, but the fact that she's cooperating should be respected. And that after the war, Biljana Plasvic was an indispensable ally of the United States and the international community, as it tried to implement the peace proposal in Dayton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: We did talk about the victims, and I think that there was an understanding about the horrors that had taken place. And, you know, I found her a very kind of conflicted individual, if I might say, in terms of knowing that she wanted to make sure that Serb interests were protected, but at the time, understanding the necessity of going through with the Dayton process.
(END VIDEO CLIP) AMANPOUR: Remember, Biljana Plasvic was leader, along with Radovan Karadzic, who is still at large and charged with crimes against humanity and genocide. She's asking him to come in and turn himself over.
This sentencing hearing will conclude tomorrow, and it will only be in the New Year that the judges decide how long a prison sentence Plasvic should get. It could be up to life imprisonment, but there are, as I say, a series of Western officials and others, who are speaking about her cooperation and the magnitude of a Bosnian Serb leader actually pleading guilty as a precedent and of reconciliation and remorse for the victims, and hoping that perhaps she might get less than life.
Back to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Christiane Amanpour, live from The Hague this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired December 17, 2002 - 06:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go to The Hague right now, where former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has appeared before a UN war crimes tribunal. Albright was testifying in the trial of the former Bosnian leader. She's a 72-year-old woman, who was nicknamed the "Iron Lady," and she has pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity.
Christiane Amanpour is live in the Netherlands with details.
Good morning again.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.
Biljana Plasvic has pleaded guilty and becomes the first senior member of the Bosnian Serb leadership to do so. Crimes such as ethnic cleansing, the persecution of minorities, helping round up people and send them off to internment camps, the destruction of cultural property -- all the sorts of things that we saw during Bosnia's war in the 1990s.
Now, here, today, Madeleine Albright, the former U.S. secretary of state, becomes the first ever U.S. government official to testify at this tribunal. Remember, Madeleine Albright was the voice and the face of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of the administration at that time, calling loudly for an end to Serb genocide in Bosnia.
Now, she is here to talk about Biljana Plasvic at her sentencing hearing. She's saying that, yes, horrendous crimes were committed, that Biljana Plasvic is not exonerated by her admission of guilt, but the fact that she's cooperating should be respected. And that after the war, Biljana Plasvic was an indispensable ally of the United States and the international community, as it tried to implement the peace proposal in Dayton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: We did talk about the victims, and I think that there was an understanding about the horrors that had taken place. And, you know, I found her a very kind of conflicted individual, if I might say, in terms of knowing that she wanted to make sure that Serb interests were protected, but at the time, understanding the necessity of going through with the Dayton process.
(END VIDEO CLIP) AMANPOUR: Remember, Biljana Plasvic was leader, along with Radovan Karadzic, who is still at large and charged with crimes against humanity and genocide. She's asking him to come in and turn himself over.
This sentencing hearing will conclude tomorrow, and it will only be in the New Year that the judges decide how long a prison sentence Plasvic should get. It could be up to life imprisonment, but there are, as I say, a series of Western officials and others, who are speaking about her cooperation and the magnitude of a Bosnian Serb leader actually pleading guilty as a precedent and of reconciliation and remorse for the victims, and hoping that perhaps she might get less than life.
Back to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Christiane Amanpour, live from The Hague this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
