Radovan Karadzic snubs Hague court
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AFP/GETTY
Bosnian-Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic faces life in jail if convicted of genocide and ethnic cleansing of the country's Muslims and Croats
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Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic refused to attend the start of his war crimes trial today saying he was not ready, and judges said they would impose a legal team on him if he failed to show up again.
"I confirm that Mr Karadzic is not present," presiding Judge O-Gon Kwon said today at the opening session which lasted less than 15 minutes. He then urged the accused to appear before the court today, when the prosecution is expected to read the indictment.
The judge also warned that the court could impose a defence attorney on Mr Karadzic if he showed "consistently obstructive behaviour".
The indictment against Mr Karadzic, 64, lists 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia. The most heinous of them is the massacre of more than 7,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, along with the three-and-a-half year siege of Sarajevo that resulted in more than 10,000 deaths.
Although the former Bosnian Serb leader risks a life sentence if found guilty, he has insisted on conducting his own defence, like his war time ally, the late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic.
Following Mr Karadzic’s non-appearance, prosecutor Hildegard Uertz-Retzlaff asked the court to issue Mr Karadzic with an official warning. If he failed to respond to that, Ms Uertz-Retzlaff said, "a counsel should be imposed on him."
According to the tribunal's rules of procedure, the defendant's presence in court is essential for the trial to be considered fair, and any solution imposed by the court because of Mr Karadzic's absence could cast a shadow on a process which has been described as one of the most important in the court's history.
This case is viewed as an opportunity for the court to save face after the ill-fated trial of Mr Milosevic which dragged on for four years before he died of a heart attack in 2006, with the verdict still pending.
The families of victims of Srerenica who had travelled across Europe to attend the hearing were indignant about yesterday’s events. One woman said the trial was "a circus". Admira Fazlic, who was imprisoned in a Bosnian Serb-run camp during the conflict, shook her head as she left the courtroom.
"We are shocked," she said. "Radovan Karadzic is making the world and justice ridiculous. He is making a fool of everybody."
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Comments
This was part of america's doing, how come Madeleine Albright cannot be forced to testify about what actually happened, in Serbia and Bosnia.
In fact no American can be forced to testify so exactly how do you get justice out of this tribunal?
This is a ridiculous justice, the people who start the war never end up on trial.
What research have you done?
Not a huge fan of american foreign policy myself but they aren't actually responsible for every atrocity in world history..
Allbright and Clinton should be prosecuted along countless more Americans Miltary and Politicals big heads!
When is Bush on trial? Ditto
When is Israel (Barak, Livni etc) on trial for the latest set of atrocities in Gaza?
The hypocracy surrounding all this is just sickening
“I have a dream that one day
this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." And I have a dream that war criminals should stand trial for what they are: Criminals. Radovan Karadzic is nothing short of a war criminal. He made his war and he lost it.
I have a dream, that Tony Blair at some stage ought to follow suit. I have a dream that not just History but also Human Justice are going to be his judge. Hague awaits!
The system is a mockery. If the Bosnians who were murdered by the Serbs didnt have a option to live, why should he have a choice to dismiss his trial. Drag him to the court room...
It seems the bigger the crime, the greater the immunity, with humble chavs at the bottom, white collar people in the middle and our great leaders at the top.. Karadzic is being treated with velvet gloves, while justice is taking a painfully long time to get to Silvio, Tony and George W.
It is always possible to allege that Blair, Brown, Bush, Clinton or any other leader of a powerful country is a war criminal. But those who criticize them so vehemently might want to walk a mile in their shoes before doing so.
Which person with morals would want to walk a mile (or even a few feet) in these evil basket-cases shoes. Most people dont hero worship those who coerce their legal teams to signoff illegal invasions which end up killing many hundreds of thousands of people. Here I am talking about the last decade and Iraq and Afghanistan.
Also, its not a case of alleging anything, its now part of recent history.
Aye :o)
posted Oct 5, 2009 10:02 AM by Jill Starr [ updated 42 minutes ago ]
http://lpcyu.instablogs.com/entry/n
truth-bites-for-te-hague-lately/
http://picasaweb.google.com/lpcyusa/Vie
oryDocumentsFromThe2001UnitedNations#
(The Documentary Secret United Nations ICC Meeting Papers Scanned Images)
This legal technicality indicates the Hague must dismiss charges against Dr karadzic and
others awaiting trials in the Hague jail; like it or not.
Unfortunately for the Signatures Of the Rome Statute United Nations member states
instituting the ICC & ICTY housed at the Hague, insofar as the, Radovan Karadzic, as
with the other Hague cases awaiting trial there, I personally witnessed these United
Nations member states openly speaking about trading judicial appointments and verdicts
for financial funding when I attended the 2001 ICC Preparatory Meetings at the UN in
Manhattan making the iCTY and ICC morally incapable trying Radovan Karazdic and
others.
I witnessed with my own eyes and ears when attending the 2001 Preparatory Meetings to
establish an newly emergent International Criminal Court, the exact caliber of criminal
corruption running so very deeply at the Hague, that it was a perfectly viable topic of
legitimate conversation in those meetings I attended to debate trading verdicts AND
judicial appointments, for monetary funding.
Jilly wrote:*The rep from Spain became distraught and when her country’s proposal was
not taken to well by the chair of the meeting , then Spain argued in a particularly loud
and noticably strongly vocal manner, “Spain (my country) strongly believes if we
contribute most financial support to the Hague’s highest court, that ought to give us and
other countries feeding it financially MORE direct power over its
decisions.”
((((((((((((((((((((((((( ((((((((((((((((((((((((( Instead of censoring the country representative
from Spain for even bringing up this unjust, illegal and unfair judicial idea of bribery for
international judicial verdicts and judicial appointments, all country representatives
present in the meeting that day all treated the Spain proposition as a ”totally legitimate
topic” discussed and debated it between each other for some time. I was quite shocked!
The idea was "let's discuss it." "It's a great topic to discuss."
Some countries agreed with Spain’s propositions while others did not. The point here is,
bribery for judicial verdicts and judicial appointments was treated as a totally legitimate
topic instead of an illegitimate toic which it is in the meeting that I
attended in 2001 that day to establish the ground work for a newly emergent
international criminal court.))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
In particular., since "Spain" was so overtly unafraid in bringing up this topic of trading
financial funding the ICC for influence over its future judicial appointments and verdicts
in front of every other UN member state present that day at the UN, "Spain" must have
already known by previous experience the topic of bribery was "socially acceptable" for
conversation that day. They must have previously spoke about bribing the ICTY and ICC
before in meetings; this is my take an international sociological honor student.
SPAIN's diplomatic gesture of international justice insofar as, Serbia, in all of this is,
disgusting morally!
SPAIN HAS TAUGHT THE WORLD THE TRUE DEFINITION OF AN
"INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT."