1. Bosnia- Herzegovina War: Oversimplified and
Misunderstood
Chloe Lloyd
25 March 2016, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was brought to justice for crimes committed
during the 1990s Balkans conflict. UN war crimes judges sentenced Karadzic to 40 years in jail after
finding him guilty of genocide and a slew of atrocities, including ethnic
cleansing. In an historic ruling judge O-Gon Kwon pronounced Karadzic
guilty of genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and nine other charges
of murder, persecution, and hostage-taking. The verdict saw Karadzic
become the most high-profile figure convicted over the 1992-95 wars that
tore Yugoslavia apart. Karadzic, 70, was found guilty of ten of 11 charges
relating to some of the worst crimes witnessed in Europe since World War
II in a conflict which saw some 100,000 people killed and another 2.2 million displaced.
In lieu of Karadzic’s conviction, the conflict is yet again at the forefront of public interest. The crimes
and unfathomable atrocities forged by Karadzic are undeniable; however, it is sadly forgotten that this
conflict was a civil war involving three parties. Western media coverage failed to portray the reality
and severity of the situation—vilifying one side, sanctifying another and the other almost void from
all reports. Journalist Ivo Petkovski, offered his opinion explaining, “It's absolutely right that Karadzic
pays the price for any crimes he is found guilty of. However,in the rush to assign the simplified roles
of aggressor and victim, crucial details are being sidelined – this was not a war of aggression but a
civil war,with atrocities committed on all sides.”. In an attempt to simplify the conflict for western
audiences and pressure international intervention –majority of western journalists who covered the
conflict failed to produce unbiased, accurate reportage. Petkovskilater added, “Karadzic and
Milosevic did not create the situation but harnessed it, and rode it like a wave. The genesis of the
conflict was in the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the rise of aggressive nationalism in the vacuum
created by the collapse of Tito's Brotherhood and Unity ideology.”.
Husband and wife, Mary and Frank Catrastellero, both children of
Yugoslavian nationals, who now reside in Australia; shared their
disdain for the media’s portrayal of the conflict. Mrs Catrastellero
expressed,“The western media left a lot out! Everyone wanted a
stronghold and there was already angst within the country.
Atrocities happened to Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. Educated
Serbians, Croatians and Bosnians, coexist together happily. It was
the uneducated people, that bred a culture of hatred.”. The couple

2. still maintains strong ties to the region and contact with family members that are scattered around
former Yugoslavian territory. They were extremely disapproving of the media’s coverage. Mrs
Catrastellero added, “The Bosnian Serbs were simpletons, country people, they were uneducated and
easy to manipulate.”. Mrs Catrastellero stressed her opinion, that the situation leading and
surrounding the conflict was never accurately explained to Australian viewers – many key factors
were omitted.
Mr Catrastellero travelled to the region in 2011, where he visited family members who shared their
stories of the war. Mr Catrastellero, emphasised that the war had a devastating effect— tearing family
and friends apart. He shared a story very close to his heart, he described, “I had two cousins, first
cousins. My Aunt was a Serb and her husband was a Croat. They lived in the town, Vukovar, one of
the biggest fighting areas of the war. Two brothers, one sided with their mum and one sided with their
dad and they were shooting at each other!”. Mr Catrastellero revealed as a Yugoslavian-Australian,
that the conflict was unfathomable to him. It saddened him to see, that years old hatred could tear his
family apart.
Retrospectively, the media’s coverage of the conflict was extremely one-sided, omitting crucial facts
to fit their prescribed narrative. This narrative ultimately led to NATO intervention which ended the
war; however, this subpar coverage still haunts the people of the former Yugoslav state to this day.
References
Interview: Mary and Frank Catrastellero 27/05/2016
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/radovan-karadzic-jailed-for-bosnian-
genocide/news-story/bd842e581cf9c54a892677d0421b877c
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/10/radovan-karadzic-bosnian-war