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BELGRADE: Bosnian Serb genocide
suspect Radovan Karadzic is to defend himself before the UN war
crimes court, his lawyer said Wednesday, raising memories of the
trial of his late ally, Slobodan Milosevic.
Karadzic, who
stands indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity, was
arrested in Belgrade on Monday, having evaded capture for more than
a decade partly thanks to a fake identity as an alternative health
guru.
The Bosnian Serb
political leader during the 1990s Bosnian war was a close ally of
then Yugoslav president Milosevic, who was also indicted for war
crimes and had chosen to defend himself before the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Milosevic’s
manipulation of the role was blamed for making his trial one of the
longest in international legal history at more than four years. The
Serbian strongman died in custody in The Hague in 2006 before a
verdict was delivered.
“Karadzic will
have a legal team in Serbia that will help him with his defense but
he will defend himself” at the ICTY, his lawyer Svetozar Vujacic
said.
The lawyer
confirmed he would file an appeal against Karadzic’s transfer to
the UN war crimes court in The Hague on Friday.
“They [the
court] will not be able to make a decision before Monday because I
will send the appeal on Friday,” said Vujacic, who had already
indicated he intends to delay the transfer for as long as possible.
Once filed, a
special panel of Serbia’s war crimes court will have three days to
decide on the application.
Under Serbia’s
law on cooperation with the ICTY, suspects can appeal their transfer
to the UN war crimes tribunal before a special committee approves
the move.
The process could
take up to nine days, but Serbia’s war crimes prosecution has said
it expects Karadzic to be sent to the UN court by Monday or Tuesday
at the latest.
Meanwhile, up to
250 hardline nationalists gathered in central Belgrade to protest
for the second consecutive day against Karadzic’s arrest.
Cordoned by the
anti-riot police, the protestors—mostly members of the
ultra-nationalist right-wing organization Obraz and supporters of
the hardline opposition Serbian Radical party—chanted Karadzic’s
name and insults addressed to Serbia’s pro-European leadership,
blaming it for the arrest.
Since his arrest,
the public’s imagination has been captured by the reports of the
fake identity Karadzic forged.
--AFP
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