Karadzic sent to UN war crimes tribunal
A picture taken on August 5, 1993 shows Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic (R) listening to Bosnian Serb Commander Ratko Mladic in Pale. Serbia is now expected to come under pressure to capture Mladic. Photo: AFP File
Serbia handed over former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to the UN war crimes court in The Hague yesterday to face genocide charges after more than a decade on the run.
UN prosecutors hailed Serbia for detaining the so-called "Butcher of Bosnia" who will face a trial over the two most notorious events of Bosnia's 1992-1995 war -- the 44-month siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre in which thousands died.
Chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz called Karadzic's capture a "major achievement" in Serbia's cooperation with the international community. But he said more must be done to capture Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military commander, and Goran Hadzic, who is wanted for war crimes in Croatia.
Karadzic, who arrested in Belgrade on July 21, was put on a special flight to the Netherlands in the early hours of Wednesday, shortly after Serbian police clashed with his supporters in the capital.
Serbia's justice ministry said it had authorised Karadzic's transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) after a Belgrade court had ruled "that all conditions have been met for the turnover of Radovan Karadzic to the ICTY."
The plane landed at Rotterdam airport amid tight security. A convoy of vehicles then sped from the airport to the UN detention unit about 25 kilometres away, followed by two police helicopters minutes later.
"Radovan Karadzic was today transferred into the Tribunal's custody, after having been at large for more than 13 years," the ICTY said in a statement yesterday.
Karadzic, 63, will make his first appearance before the court today, when he will be asked to enter a plea, the ICTY said.
UN prosecutor Brammertz stressed that Mladic and Hadzic are still at large and stressed that the extent of Serbia's cooperation with the ICTY is a key condition for sealing closer ties with the European Union.
"Without these arrests we cannot complete our mandate," the chief prosecutor added.
The European Union welcomed Karadzic's transfer to a UN tribunal, but also urged Serbia to bring other suspects to justice.
"The Serbian authorities' arrest of Radovan Karadzic and subsequent transfer constitute an important stage in the process of reconciliation in the Western Balkans and Serbia's rapprochement with the European Union," the EU's French presidency said.
Comments