Florence Hartmann, former spokeswoman for the prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugosavia, was found in contempt of the tribunal Monday and fined 7,000 Euros – over $10,000 U.S. dollars. She was found in contempt for revealing secret information implicating the Serbian government in massacres in her memoir “Peace and Punishment”. The secret information was gleened from Defense documents submitted by Serbia to the tribunal in 2003 that demonstrated direct involvement of the government in ordering some of the most horrific massacres of the Balkan Wars, including Srebrenica. The documents were submitted by the Serbian government under the condition that they be kept secret. Some have argued that this deal helped Milosevic and others escape being charged with Genocide.
Scholars differ as to whether the Tribunal has authority to enforce contempt charges. William Schabas argues that it doesn’t and that if Hartmann ignores the court’s judgement she should be able to skirt any punishment. The court clearly grants itself authority to hold subjects in contempt but individually negotiated extradition treaties do not generally include such a clause. Proponents of the judgment argue that Hartmann’s disclosure deters future governments’ cooperation with special tribunals.
Hartmann plans to appeal Monday’s decision regardless. Hartmann’s controversial memoir currently sells used for $100 on Amazon where it ranks in the 3,000,000’s. It is hard to say whether the book’s revenue would offset the fine.