Karadzic defiant at Hague hearing

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1124621 [headline] => Karadzic defiant at Hague hearing [abstract] => Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic defiantly demanded more time to prepare his defence as he made his first court appearance since the start of his genocide trial. [keywords] => Karadzic, The Hague, tribunal, Serbia, war crimes [content] =>

Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic defiantly demanded more time to prepare his defence as he made his first court appearance since the start of his genocide trial.

Karadzic called the proceedings "bad from the start" after he entered the accused dock of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for a hearing on how to move forward in the face of his trial boycott.

He faces charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity over the 1992-95 Bosnia war.

The charges in part involve the massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica and the 44-month siege of Sarajevo in which 10,000 people were killed.

"I don't want to boycott these proceedings, but I cannot take part in something that has been bad from the start or where my fundamental rights have been violated," Karadzic, wearing a black suit, pink shirt and red tie, told judges, demanding more time to prepare.

"The situation is such that I would really be a criminal if I were to accept these conditions - to enter into a trial and proceedings for which I am not prepared."

Karadzic is conducting his own defence. Presiding judge O-Gon Kwon adjourned the trial, cancelling a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, to consider submissions made by Karadzic and the prosecution on the future of the case. He said a written decision will be released later this week.

Karadzic, who denies all the charges against him, could be jailed for life if convicted.

He is charged with 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnian war that claimed some 100,000 lives and caused 2.2 million people to flee their homes.

Arrested on a Belgrade bus last July after 13 years on the run, he has refused to leave his jail cell since the trial started on October 26, saying he needs more time to review 1.3 million pages of prosecution evidence and the statements of hundreds of witnesses.

"I have given up my walks in the fresh air and sports," working day and night to prepare for the case, said Karadzic. But the judge pointed out that the court had found on more than one occasion that he had had enough time to prepare.

"It is the trial chamber, not an accused person which determines readiness for trial," O-Gon said.

"It is in your best interest to attend and participate fully in the trial so that justice can be done."

Karadzic maintained his trial was "the last opportunity for arriving at the truth". Prosecutor Hildegard Uertz-Retzlaff urged the court to allow the proceedings to continue, accusing Karadzic of "obstructive behaviour".

"Mr Karadzic cannot be permitted to manipulate the proceedings through his decision not to attend," she said, warning that "if necessary, force can be used to secure his presence in the courtroom".

Other options include continuing the trial in Karadzic's absence, or imposing a defence lawyer - a step that could delay the proceedings and which he has vowed to fight.

"There is no single lawyer that wouldn't need more time than this defence team that is under my leadership," Karadzic told the judges.

"What my defence needs most is not a new lawyer, what it needs most is more time."

Co-prosecutor Alan Tieger has branded Karadzic "the "supreme commander" of an ethnic cleansing campaign of Croats and Muslims during Bosnia's war.

He is alleged to have worked with Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic in pursuit of a "Greater Serbia" which was to include 60 per cent of the territory of Bosnia.

Milosevic died midway through his own genocide trial in March 2006, while Karadzic's former military general, Ratko Mladic, is still on the run.

[start_date] => 04 November 2009 | 08:44:25 AM [comments_allowed] => 1 [source] => AFP [commentCount] => 0 [video] => [image] => [audio] => [reporter] => [relatedLinks] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [id] => 1123716 [label] => Karadzic 'sanctioned Sarajevo killings' [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [1] => Array ( [id] => 1122332 [label] => Genocide trial to go on without Karadzic [display_order] => 1 [type] => Article ) ) [relatedArticles] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [article_id] => 1123716 [headline] => Karadzic 'sanctioned Sarajevo killings' [abstract] => Radovan Karadzic sanctioned the shelling of Sarajevo civilians and the massacre of Srebrenica's Muslims, the prosecutor says. [content] =>

Radovan Karadzic sanctioned the shelling of Sarajevo civilians and the massacre of Srebrenica's Muslims, the prosecutor said as the Bosnian Serb leader's genocide trial resumed in his absence.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was told on Monday Karadzic directed "a campaign of terror" against Sarejevo and ordered the Srebrenica massacre.

"The accused knew throughout the course of the 44-month siege his forces were shelling and sniping at civilians and creating conditions of terror for the citizens of Sarajevo," prosecutor Alan Tieger said on the third day of the trial Karadzic has boycotted.

"For 44 months Radovan Karadzic directed a campaign of terror against a civilian population who were targeted for living in the capital of a multi-ethnic country that he sought to ethnically separate," he said.

Karadzic, 64, faces 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnian war that claimed about 100,000 lives and caused another 2.2 million people to flee their homes.

Charges against him include the siege of Sarajevo, which ended in November 1995 after about 10,000 people, many of them civilians, were killed.

"The ongoing attack on civilians who were already rendered vulnerable by privation and isolation, was designed to terrorise them, an intent made more obvious every day," Tieger said.

In the first two weeks of 1994, UN military observers recorded over 6,600 shells targeted at Sarajevo, the prosecutor added.

Arrested on a Belgrade bus in July last year after 13 years on the run, Karadzic is also charged with responsibility for the massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys at the UN-protected enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995 - an event Tieger describes as "one of humanity's dark chapters".

"Radovan Karadzic ordered the operation against Srebrenica, which was a culmination of his efforts to cleanse eastern Bosnia... to ensure the Serb state that he envisioned," the prosecutor said.

"He covered up the mass expulsions and the murders and continues to do so to this day, and the only regret he had of the entire operation was that some Muslim men got away."

Karadzic denies all the charges, which could put him in jail for life.

He continued his boycott of the trial on Monday to insist on more time to prepare his defence, which he is conducting himself.

"The trial chamber considers Mr Karadzic's absence as the voluntary waiver of his right to attend the trial, and therefore the chamber will continue hearing the prosecution's opening statement," ruled presiding judge O-Gon Kwon.

Karadzic announced in a letter made public by the tribunal earlier that he would be present on Tuesday for a special, procedural hearing to determine how to proceed with his trial in the face of his continued defiance.

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 3 November 2009 [articletime] => 3 November 2009 [display_order] => 0 ) [1] => Array ( [article_id] => 1122332 [headline] => Genocide trial to go on without Karadzic [abstract] => The genocide trial of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic will push ahead on Monday even though he has again pledged not to show up. [content] =>

The genocide trial of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic will push ahead on Monday even though he has again pledged not to show up, throwing the long-awaited proceedings into uncertainty.

Ignoring requests from the judge to reconsider, the 64-year-old Bosnian Serb wartime leader refused to leave his prison cell to come to court when the trial began last Monday, demanding more time to prepare his defence, which he is conducting himself.

This prompted a one-day adjournment, but when Karadzic was again absent on Tuesday presiding judge O-Gon Kwon ordered the proceedings in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to continue without him.

Karadzic was not there to hear prosecutor Alan Tieger describe him as the "supreme commander" of a campaign of ethnic cleansing during Bosnia's 1992-95 war that claimed about 100,000 lives and caused 2.2 million people to flee their homes.

Karadzic, who faces 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, has vowed to remain absent when his trial resumes on Monday with the conclusion of the prosecutor's opening statement.

In this event, O-Gon has ordered a special, procedural hearing to be held the following day to determine how to proceed with the case in the face of his defiance.

Options include continuing the trial in Karadzic's absence in the future, or imposing a defence lawyer on him - which could cause a delay of several months as that person acquaints himself with the case.

Arrested on a Belgrade bus in July last year after 13 years on the run, Karadzic is charged with responsibility for the massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys at the UN-protected enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995.

Tieger called it "the largest mass killing on European soil since World War II."

He is also charged for the 44-month siege of Sarajevo, which ended in November 1995 after some 10,000 people were killed.

"Mothers walking their children were shot. School children playing were shot, people on trams were shot, people playing in the snow were shot, people collecting water were shot," said the prosecutor.

Victims of the Bosnian war were disappointed with Karadzic's absence, one woman saying after the adjournment on the first day: "We travelled 2,000 kilometres and waited 15 years!"

But a member of Karadzic's legal team told AFP that continuing without him was a mistake.

"It puts pressure (on Karadzic)... allowing the prosecution to make allegations to which we cannot respond," Marco Sladojevic said. "The judgment will not be reliable".

Karadzic may get his day in court next week, though not as part of the trial. Sladojevic said his client may attend Tuesday's procedural hearing, where the defence and prosecution would make submissions on how to continue the trial in the face of his boycott.

The prosecution asked the court on Monday to opt for imposing a defence lawyer on Karadzic, accusing him of trying to "frustrate the proceedings".

But Sladojevic said Karadzic "will never accept any imposed counsel".

Karadzic had asked the court in September for an additional ten months to prepare his case, saying he needed more time to read a million pages of prosecution evidence and study the statements of hundreds of witnesses.

The trial had been scheduled to conclude in 2012.

Legal experts have told AFP that Karadzic's boycott has left the tribunal in "limbo" and the judges may be left with no option but to seek a compromise as continuing the trial without the accused may leave the door open for appeals.

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