Karadzic delays plea

01/08/2008

Top war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic refused to enter a plea in his initial appearance before judges at the UN war crimes tribunal Thursday but claimed there had been irregularities in his arrest and that his life is in danger.

(The New York Times, FT, The Guardian, Independent, The Times - 01/08/08; AP, Reuters, AFP, DPA, Bloomberg, BBC, VOA, RFE/RL, B92 - 31/07/08)

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic makes his initial appearance at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Thursday (July 31st). [Getty Images]

Radovan Karadzic made his first appearance before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Thursday (July 31st), declining to enter a plea and saying he would represent himself.

Serbian police arrested the former Bosnian Serb leader on July 21st and transferred him to The Hague early Wednesday.

Police captured Karadzic 13 years after UN prosecutors issued their initial indictment accusing him of a multitude of war crimes stemming from the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). He faces genocide charges for the 44-month siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys.

"You had power and control over Bosnian Serb forces," presiding Judge Alphonse Orie said, as he read a summary of Karadzic's amended 11-count indictment of April 2000. "You planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in the persecution and terror tactics [against non-Serbs]."

Karadzic, 63, remained composed throughout the hour-long hearing. He refused to enter a plea, and now has 30 days to do so. The next court date has been set for August 29th.

Unlike his wartime ally, Slobodan Milosevic, who died in UN custody in 2006, Karadzic did not question the ICTY's legitimacy at Thursday's hearing but made it clear he would represent himself.

"I will defend myself before this institution as I would defend myself before any natural catastrophe," Karadzic told the judge.

At the start of the hearing, he said he was receiving guidance from "an invisible adviser".

Chief UN war crimes prosecutor Serge Brammertz confirmed plans to update the indictment against Karadzic to reflect the latest evidence and to ensure the efficient presentation of the case.

Asked if he had any complaints about his treatment at the tribunal's detention facility near a seaside resort, Karadzic smiled, saying he had been "in worse places".

But he alleged "numerous irregularities" in his capture, contending that he had been kidnapped three days before the initial announcement of his arrest on July 21st. He also expressed concerns for his safety.

In addition, Karadzic claimed he had struck a deal with former US envoy Richard Holbrooke, who brokered the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, stipulating the war crimes charges against him would be dropped if he disappeared from public life.

In response Thursday, Holbrooke described that as an "outrageous fabrication".

"There was an agreement he would leave power," the New York Times quoted Holbrooke as saying. "He got nothing in return."