The forensification of propaganda in epic poetry and Serb leadership cases at the ICTY

The concept of propaganda, while not a crime per se in international criminal law, is a multifaceted phenomenon with far-reaching implications in social and legal practice. The evolving jurisprudence indicates that language, as an instrument of propaganda, can constitute forensic evidence of critical relevance, particularly in the prosecution of the crimes of persecution and genocide. The language of epic poetry, conceived and construed within complex historical and cultural backdrops, has not been an exception in this respect. This chapter demonstrates how specific excerpts from the mid-19th-century epic poem The Mountain Wreath by the Montenegrin sovereign and poet Petar Petrovi_ Njego_ were utilized by the prosecution as mens rea evidence in the trial of Radovan Karad_i_ at the ICTY. Such an approach to poetry in the courtroom demonstrates that legal practice is not interested in aesthetic value judgements but in the forensification of intent possibly resonating through a work of art.