Karadzic: Different Case Circumstances

In his motion filed on November 22 this year Karadzic asked The Hague Tribunal’s Chamber to remove from his indictment four shelling incidents and six incidents related to sniping activities against civilians in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period from 1992 to 1995, which have already been removed from the indictment against Ratko Mladic.

The former President of Republika Srpska said that, considering the fact that The Hague Prosecution considers that it can prove Mladic’s responsibility for crimes in Sarajevo without those incidents, the same should apply to the case against Karadzic. The Prosecution of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY objected to his motion.

“Different things have to be considered in the cases against Karadzic and Mladic. Prior to proposing to the Court how to handle the Mladic case, the Prosecution evaluated certain factors, like the nature of the crimes, Mladic’s alleged participation in those crimes, victims’ interests, possible duration of the trial, the Tribunal’s mandate and the possibility that Mladic’s health condition is bad. The circumstances differ, to a significant extent, in Karadzic’s case,” The Hague Prosecution said in its motion.

Karadzic is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and the violation of the laws and customs of war committed in the period from 1992 to 1995. His trial began in October 2009. The Hague Prosecution is currently presenting evidence related to genocide in Srebrenica.

On December 5 this year the Hague Tribunal accepted the Prosecution’s proposal to reduce the number of incidents in the case against Ratko Mladic, former Chief of the Main Headquarters with the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, who is awaiting his trial to begin, to 106 crimes, instead of 196 included in the third revised indictment.

The ICTY Chamber will render its decision concerning Karadzic’s motion at a later stage.D.Dz.