Karadzic: New Trial Break Requested

In his motion filed with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY Radovan Karadzic says that his trial has run “at full steam” since May this year, adding that he has therefore not been able to prepare himself for the presentation of evidence pertaining to Srebrenica.

“The Defence has not had enough time or resources to prepare itself for the evidence related to Srebrenica. The Defence team makes desperate efforts to keep up with the pace of presentation of evidence related to crimes committed in municipalities,” Karadzic said in his motion.

Karadzic, who is representing himself at this trial, said that his preparation for the part of the trial related to the events that took place in Srebrenica in 1995 suffered because The Hague Prosecution was late in submitting acquittal evidence to the Defence.

The Hague Tribunal’s Chamber will render a decision about indictee Karadzic’s request at a later stage.
The Hague Prosecution charges Karadzic with genocide in Srebrenica in July 1995 and seven other Bosnian municipalities in 1992.

The indictment alleges that Karadzic is responsible for persecuting Bosniaks and Croats in 20 Bosnian municipalities, the shelling and sniping in Sarajevo and taking members of international forces hostage in the period from1992 to 1995.

Karadzic’s trial was postponed several times in order to give the accused time to go through acquittal evidence. Karadzic was arrested in July 2008 after being on the run for several years. His trial began in October 2009.