Karadzic Returns to Court

By Ese Omofoma
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic returned to court on Wednesday for a hearing to continue preparations for his U.N. genocide and crimes against humanity trial.

Judge Ian Bonomy set aside two hours for the hearing allowing prosecutors to explain steps they have taken to prepare for Karadzic's long-awaited trial. 

Karadzic, 63, faces 11 counts, including genocide, for allegedly masterminding atrocities when he was president of the Bosnian Serb republic.  The counts include the slaughter of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in July of 1995 and the deadly siege of Sarajevo.  The charges against Karadzic are regarded as Europe's worst massacre since World War II.  The indictment further alleges that Karadzic knew about the crimes that were being committed by Bosnian Serb forces, but chose to take no action in preventing them.

At a hearing last month, Bonomy registered not guilty pleas to all charges after Karadzic refused to enter pleas himself.

Karadzic was arrested on a Belgrade bus in July after 13 years on the run.  At the time of his capture, he was disguised with flowing white hair, a bushy beard, and working as a new age healer under the name of Dr. Dragan Dabi. 

Karadzic plans on defending himself with the assistance of a team of legal advisers.  It is likely that Karadzic will use Wednesday's hearing to re-iterate his claim that he was promised immunity from prosecution in return for disappearing from the public eye in a 1996 deal with U.S. peace envoy Richard Holbrooke.  Holbrooke has repeatedly denied the claim.

At a hearing in August, Karadzic accused the tribunal of being a "court of NATO."

The indictment against Karadzic is currently 25 pages long and has not been updated in more than eight years.  Prosecutors would like to update the indictment to include new evidence discovered in 2000.  Judge Bonomy has urged prosecutors to complete their review as soon as possible.

The court is being pressured by the Security Council to complete its cases and close the door by 2010.  With a trial date that has yet to be set, it is unlikely that the tribunal will make that deadline.

Altogether, prosecutors have indicted 161 suspects on war crimes charges, and convicted 57 of those.  The two indicted suspects that remain on the run include Karadzic's former military chief, Gen. Ratko Mladic, and one-time leader of the Serbs in Croatia, Goran Hadzic.

For more information, please see:

3 News - Karadzic retuning to court - 17 September 2008

AP - Karadzic to appear at pretrial UN court hearing - 17 September 2008

BBC - New tribunal hearing for Karadzic - 17 September 2008