Peter Robinson - The Tribunal

Mihajlo Golic was on his way to Amsterdam. He had decided to travel by train, rather than fly into Schipol Airport. He didn’t want to have to worry about getting his Beretta pistol through the metal detectors.

He had heard the news about Draga’s trial. The American lawyer was a fraud after all. Imagine putting up no defense. It was an insult to the Serbian people. He took no joy in what he would do to the girl, but the lawyer had been warned. Now he would get what had been promised.

Golic walked into the bathroom and pulled out his cellular phone. He dialed the number for the man he knew as “Hans.”

“Hello,” Hans answered on the first ring.

“I’ll be in Amsterdam in three hours time,” Golic said in English. It was the only common language between them. “I’m on the train.”

“We’ve had a problem,” Hans said. He explained the events of the previous evening. “We’re in a hotel in Amsterdam.”

“I’d better pick up the girl this afternoon. It’s getting too dangerous to hold her any longer.”

“What about the trial?”

“The trial’s a joke. The American didn’t even put up a defense. The judges will be deciding the case by tomorrow. And there’s no doubt what that decision will be.”

“Call me when you get near Amsterdam. We’ll arrange the transfer.”

“I’ll do that.” Golic clicked off the phone and returned to his seat.

At the Wassenaar Police Station, Detective Weber also returned to her seat, after removing her headphones connected to the telephone monitoring device. “Get everybody from the airport over to Amsterdam Central Station,” she barked over her walkie-talkie. “He’s not flying – he’s on the train!”

The detective shifted her large frame and rechecked the 9 mm automatic revolver in her purse. She was a dead-eye shot, and today, she wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

She looked at the picture of Mihajlo Golic taped to the wall in front of her. “Be a good boy,” she coaxed. “Come to Mama.”

“What do you mean ‘make the transfer’?” Ellen asked Hans when he had finished talking on his cell phone.

“We’re going to take you to the man who will bring you back to your family.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Then I’m going home today?”

“Possibly,” said Hans, casting a glance at Anna.

Ellen walked over to Anna and gave her a hug. “I’m going to miss you guys.”

Anna returned the hug. There were tears in her eyes.

Ellen went over to Hans and hugged him too. He awkwardly embraced the girl. Then he said to Anna, “We’ve got to talk.”

The hotel room was cramped for three people and a dog. Ever since Ellen had woken up at 6 a.m., she had been bored. Hans and Anna seemed preoccupied. They were watching television, listening for any news about Jan. There was no mention of his arrest – only a story about Draga’s trial. The announcer reported that no defense had been offered for Draga and said that a verdict in the trial was expected tomorrow.

Hans told Ellen that he needed to speak to Anna in private about something. “You know enough of our language now that we can’t even talk Dutch in front of you,” he said. “So I need you to go into the bathroom for a few minutes while we talk out here.”

Ellen shrugged her shoulders. “It’s okay. Come on, Johanna.” She led the puppy into the bathroom and closed the door.

Ellen’s eyes scanned the bathroom. She spotted a drinking glass sitting upside down next to the sink. She picked it up and held it to the wall. She could hear perfectly.

“I’m supposed to take her to the guy in about three hours,” she heard Hans saying in Dutch. “I don’t think he’s going to let her go.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re not even waiting until the trial’s over. They’re positive that Draga is going to be found guilty.”

“What should we do?”

“It’s really risky for us here in a hotel,” Hans replied. “We can’t stay here forever. I’ll feel a lot better when we’ve gotten rid of her.”

Ellen felt sad as she listened in the bathroom.

“I don’t want anything to happen to her,” Anna said.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Hans said. “When I took this job, I just thought we would be babysitting the girl until the trial was over. I didn’t care what happened after that. But now that we’ve gotten to know her, well, things are different.”

“Why don’t you find out what their intentions are? Our deal was we hold her until the trial is over. They can wait for one more day.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Ellen heard the bed creak and quickly put down her glass.

Soon, Hans called for her to come out.

Ellen and Johanna came out. “Hey, can we order room service?”

“Sure,” Anna replied. “It’s lunchtime anyway.”

“I’m going out for awhile,” Hans told Anna. “Make sure she’s in the bathroom when the waiter comes to the door. And Johanna, too. We’re not even supposed to have pets in this hotel.”

Hans went out and closed the door behind him.

He hopped on the first bus and rode it for a few miles. He got off in a shopping district and found a public phone. He placed another call to Mihajlo Golic.

“This is Hans,” he said when Golic answered. “I didn’t want to use my cell phone any more. My partner may have given the number to the police by now.”

“Does he know about me?”

“No. Let’s meet in Leiden. Get off the train at Utrecht and take a local train to Leiden Central station. Go downstairs and I will meet you in front of the snack bar. Then we’ll make the arrangements to transfer the girl. I had to get rid of my van because I think it’s hot.”

“Okay. I should be there in about two hours.”

“I’ll be there,” Hans replied. “I’m throwing my cell phone away. I’ll call you from a public phone if I don’t see you at the station.”

“All right,” Golic said, and hung up the phone.

The big man was anxious to get it over with. He would take the girl out in the woods tonight after sundown. He checked his watch. It was 2:30.

The judges looked attentive as Kevin rose to the podium and began his closing argument. “It is true, as Mr. Oswald said, that this is a case about murder, torture, and rape. Unquestionably, all of those things took place during the war in Bosnia. But neither Mr. Zaric nor any of the men under his command committed any of these heinous war crimes. And for that reason, you must find him not guilty.”

Kevin went on for the next fifteen minutes reviewing the war crimes described during the trial and the persons who committed them. Not one was a bona fide Black Dragon. He explained that Draga’s public statements were a method of propaganda that was part of his military objectives of intimidation to encourage surrender rather than armed resistance. He argued that if the prosecution truly had a legitimate case against Draga, there would have been no reason for them to conceal evidence and suborn perjury during his trial.

“Yes, this is a case about murder, torture, and rape,” Kevin continued. “But it is also a case about courage.” He slowed his pace and looked directly at Judge Davidson. “The witnesses who have testified during this trial have shown extraordinary courage to survive the horrors of the war and then to relive them again in this courtroom. A little eleven-year-old girl, who had nothing to do with the war, my daughter Ellen, has courageously endured a month of confinement during this trial. And now, her life depends on your courage.”

The judges – all three – were glued to his every word.

Kevin fought to keep his composure. “I know it will take tremendous courage on your part to render an unpopular verdict, but one that is compelled by the evidence. This Tribunal will be judged, ten, twenty, a hundred years from now, not by how it exacted revenge for the war in Bosnia, but by how it dispensed justice. When you write your verdict, you will be writing a page in history. History is replete with great men and women who had the courage to do what was not popular, but was right.