﻿ Karadzic war crimes trial resumes | News | Al Jazeera

Karadzic war crimes trial resumes

Former Bosnian Serb war leader boycotts proceedings in The Hague for a second day.

    Karadzic faces charges of 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity [AFP]


    Karadzic, who opted to defend himself in the trial despite having no legal background, now says he needs more time to prepare his defence.

    'Black cauldron'

    The ICTY heard the first part of the prosecutor's opening statements on Tuesday, during which Karadzic was described as the "supreme commander" of an ethnic cleansing campaign in the 1992-5 Bosnian war.

    Alan Tieger, a senior prosecutor at the court, quoted Karadzic as saying before the war that Serb forces would turn Sarajevo into "a black cauldron, where 300,000 Muslims will die".

    In depth

     The charges against Karadzic
     Karadzic: A man of many identities
     Video: Karadzic boycotts trial
     Karadzic: A national hero?
     My brother Radovan Karadzic


    Tieger added that the case was about a "supreme commander, a man who harnessed the forces of nationalism, hatred and fear to implement his vision of an ethnically separated Bosnia".



    Karadzic faces 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly masterminding Serb atrocities during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, a conflict that claimed an estimated 100,000 lives.

    Among the charges Karadzic faces is one count of genocide over the massacre of Muslim men and boys at the UN-protected enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995, in which about 8,000 people died.

    He also faces another genocide charge over the siege of Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital.

    Tim Friend, Al Jazeera's correspondent at The Hague, said the prosecution "feel they have substantial evidence linking Radovan Karadzic to these horrendous events during that bloody war".



    Caught in disguise


    Karadzic has repeatedly refused to enter pleas, but insists he is innocent.







    SOURCE: Al Jazeera and agencies


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