Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, in his first legal brief to the UN war crimes tribunal, said he was the victim of a media witch hunt that will prevent him from getting a fair trial.
Karadzic made his first appearance at the UN Yugoslav war crimes tribunal on Thursday, 13 years after he was indicted on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He declined to plead to the 11 charges against him, and another hearing was scheduled for Aug. 29 when he will again be asked to enter a plea. If he again refuses, the judge will enter not-guilty pleas on his behalf.
In court on Thursday, Karadzic tried to protest what he called “numerous irregularities” leading to his arrest. Judge Alphons Orie cut him short, saying the plea hearing was inappropriate for such remarks.
Orie suggested that Karadzic, who has asked to act as his own attorney, submit his statement as a brief to the court after the hearing.
In the four-page document published on the tribunal’s Web site on Friday, Karadzic said he expected his case to be subjected to a “lynch atmosphere in the media and the public,” fueled by the US, which he claimed was out to kill him.
“It is now unimaginable to many people that this court could acquit me,” Karadzic wrote. “I believe that this fact seriously jeopardizes the trial itself.”
He outlined a tale of intrigue that began in 1996 when, he said, US negotiator Richard Holbrooke offered him a deal: If Karadzic quit as president of the Bosnian Serb republic and disappeared, the US would ensure “that I will not be tried before this tribunal.”
But Karadzic said the US reneged and was intent on silencing him.
He said that he still feared for his life, even in the UN detention center where he will stay for the duration of his trial.
“I do not know how long the arm of Mr Holbrooke is ... or whether that arm can reach me here,” he wrote.
Holbrooke denied Karadzic’s account in an interview on Thursday.
“He’s one of the greatest mass murderers of the world and he’s putting this out in order to defend himself. It’s an invented story and no one ought to believe it,” Holbrooke said.
“What I said was, ‘If anyone deserves the death penalty, it’s Karadzic and Mladic,’” Holbrooke said, referring to Karadzic’s top military commander Ratko Mladic, who is still a fugitive. “That was my specific reference and if Karadzic is in The Hague and is still scared that I have an arm that long, I guess I should treat it in a backhanded way as a compliment.”
Karadzic’s appearance in court was the first time he had been seen by the public without his disguise since he went into hiding more than a decade ago.
In recent months he had been living under a false identity in Belgrade, disguised with a bushy white beard, long hair and thick-rimmed glasses. On Thursday, he appeared clean-shaven with a trim haircut and a business suit.
In his filing, Karadzic claimed he was kidnapped by unidentified civilians while riding a bus and was held captive for three days before being turned over on July 21 to Serb authorities, who then announced the arrest.
During his confinement, he said he was not allowed to make telephone calls or send text messages.
“For those 74 hours I did not exist,” he said.
More than 100,000 people were killed in the 1992 to 1995 Bosnian war begun by the Bosnian Serbs in an effort to drive out other ethnic groups and integrate the area into a “Greater Serbia.”
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