Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, says he will appear at his trial on Tuesday. The UN-backed war crimes tribunal began hearing the charges last week in The Hague, but Karadzic has boycotted the proceedings so far.
Karadzic is conducting his own defense and has repeatedly insisted he is innocent. He has refused to appear at the Tribunal because he claims he needs more time to review the prosecution’s extensive evidence and hundreds of witness statements. In a letter sent to the court this week, Karadzic agreed to attend Tuesday’s procedural hearing, which aims to find a way to hold the trial without requiring Karadzic’s presence in court. "I hope we will be able to find a solution which will lead not only to an expeditious trial, but a fair one," he said.
The former president of Republika Srpska, commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, and head of the Serbian Democratic Party, Karadzic is facing 11 charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for his involvement in the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.
Arrested in Belgrade last July, after 13 years in hiding, Karadzic had been posing as a New Age healer named Dr. Dragan Dabic. He had grown a thick beard and wore his long gray hair in a knot on the top of his head. Thick glasses also helped his disguise. His capture was hailed by those seeking justice for the crimes committed in the Bosnian War. It was hoped that Karadzic would be tried along General Ratko Mladic, the wartime military chief also implicated in the charges of war crimes and genocide, but he has yet to be apprehended. Karadzic’s trial is expected to last up to two years. If convicted, Karadzic faces the maximum sentence of life in prison.
