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Radovan Karadzic set to enter pleas at UN trial

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was scheduled to enter pleas yesterday at the UN’s Yugoslav war crimes tribunal to 11 charges including genocide and crimes against humanity.

At the same hearing, prosecutors are expected to tell judge Iain Bonomy about progress in updating Karadzic’s indictment.

Changes will likely include streamlining the indictment to ensure Karadzic gets a quicker trial than his former mentor Slobodan Milosevic, who died of a heart attack in 2006 before a verdict in his genocide trial was reached.

“It will be interesting to hear from the prosecutor when he will be able to have this new indictment,” said Geraldine Mattioli, an international law advocate with Human Rights Watch. “In terms of finding out about the beginning of the trial, that will be vital.”

Karadzic has already made it clear he will plead not guilty by saying he plans to defend himself at trial. If he were to plead guilty, there would be no trial.

If Karadzic, 63, refuses to plead, the court will file not-guilty pleas for him.
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