Karadzic Knew Nothing About Srebrenica Massacres
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There is not a single piece of evidence that Dr Karadzic planned or ordered the execution of prisoners [from Srebrenica], or that he knew about it, Karadzics legal adviser Peter Robinson told The Hague Tribunal as closing arguments in the former Bosnian Serb presidents war crimes trial continued on Thursday.
“In fact it was concealed from him. All the witnesses testified that Karadzic was not informed and that he had no role [in the killings], Robinson added.
Robinson said that the massacres of thousands of men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995 were an unthinkable crime, but it would be unjust to convict Karadzic of genocide.
The Prosecution failed to prove that the killings and the living conditions of prisoners were [conducted] with the aim of destroying a group and thus achieving genocidal intent… The evidence against Karadzic is such a thin theory which falls apart when the facts are separated from the conclusions, he said.
The 69-year-old is charged with masterminding genocide in Srebrenica in 1995 and in seven Bosnian municipalities in 1992, the persecution of non-Serbs, terrorising the besieged population of Sarajevo and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.
Prosecutors at the UN-backed court have demanded a life sentence for the former Bosnian Serb leader.
Karadzic also told The Hague Tribunal on Wednesday that there was no evidence to support the Prosecutions claims that he masterminded genocide, ethnic cleansing and military terror, and that the court had put the entire Serb people on trial.
The Prosecution claimed however in its own closing arguments earlier this week that Karadzic was a liar and a criminal with genocidal intent who was the driving force behind the ethnic cleansing of the non-Serb population in Bosnia during wartime.
His trial began in 2009 after he was arrested in Serbia and handed over to The Hague court after more than a decade on the run.
After the closing arguments, the verdict is expected to be delivered in the summer of 2015.
