PEN Criticizes Magazine for Publishing Poetry by Accused War Criminal

Posted on April 16, 2009

PEN has condemned Dotyky, a Slovakian literary magazine, for publishing poems by Radovan Karadzic. Karadzic is the notorious former Bosnian Serb leader who has been charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Karadzic was captured by Serbian intelligence last July after 12 years in hiding. The Slovakian PEN Centre, part of PEN International, criticised Slovakian magazine Dotyky "from an ethical and moral point of view" for publishing Karadzic's poetry earlier this month without any editorial commentary about his background while he is "indicted for war crimes in connection with the 1990s Bosnian conflict, including crimes against humanity".
Dotyky magazine is published by the Slovakian Writers Association. Its editor Boris Brendza is a member of the Slovakian PEN centre, which said in an official statement that it would punish him for publishing the poems by withdrawing his membership for one year.
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But editor Brendza defended the publication to local journalists, saying the poems were "high-quality", and that "the damage would be if they were not to be published".
During his time on the run, Karadzic managed to publish a new volume of poetry, one poem in which variously declared that "judges torture me for insignificant acts", and that "I can't stand the sight of you you file of scum / You file of snails". His poems � which won him the Russian Writers' Union Mikhail Sholokhov prize in 1994 - often have warlike or violent themes, with titles including A Morning Hand Grenade, Assassins, A Man Made of Ashes and War Boots.

It doesn't sound as if Karadzic is repentant in the least if he thinks that he is being tortured for "insignificant acts." But it raises an interesting question about censorship. Should we refuse to publish the poems of an accused war criminal because of who he is, even if the poems have literary merit? Or should the poems be published, with an explanatory biographical note attached?

You can find transcripts from documentaries and other information about Radovan Karadzic at PBS.org.