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In a letter to the judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY Karadzic said he expected to be found not guilty by a verdict that is expected next year, but asked the Trial Chamber to not to sentence him in case he is found guilty.
“The reason for this request is based on the extraordinary broad scope of the indictment against Dr. Karadzic. The Chamber will have to deliberate on 340 possible verdicts: 263 separate crimes and 77 separate modes of liability. If Dr. Karadzic is found guilty, the sentence will depend on which crimes are found to be committed and under which modes of liability. Until such decisions are known to the parties, it is impossible to make reasoned submissions on the sentence a conviction should draw,” said Karadzic.
Karadzic said it was impossible for him to address the issue of sentencing in his closing brief, because of the “infinite number of possible outcomes”.
This is why, as his letter proposes, if he is found guilty, Karadzic asks the Defence and Prosecution be given a seven day deadline to submit motions on sentencing, after which a separate sentencing hearing would be scheduled.
Karadzic is on trial for genocide in Srebrenica and seven other municipalities, persecution of Bosniaks and Croats, terrorising Sarajevo citizens and taking UN peacekeepers hostage. His trial started in 2009.
The Hague prosecutors and Defence completed their evidence hearings earlier this year and the closing arguments are scheduled for September, after which the verdict should be made in mid-2015.
