The Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal said yesterday the trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic would go ahead as scheduled despite his intention not to attend the opening day next week.
Karadzic, who has argued he is being denied a fair trial by being given insufficient time to prepare, had filed a submission on Wednesday informing the tribunal he did not intend to appear in court for the start of his trial on Monday.
“At the moment there is no indication that the procedure will not go ahead as scheduled. The control of court proceedings is entirely in the hands of the Tribunal’s Judges,” tribunal spokesperson Nerma Jelacic said in a statement.
However, Karadzic said in his submission to the tribunal: “This process is not ready to start, simply because the defense was not granted sufficient time and resources to prepare … Therefore I shall not appear before you on that date.”
Karadzic is charged with 11 counts of war crimes, including genocide over the 1992 to 1995 Bosnian war.
After Karadzic had unsuccessfully tried last week to have the trial delayed for 10 months, his legal adviser Peter Robinson said he was considering his options.
Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said Karadzic — who has filed almost 270 motions over various issues since his transfer to the tribunal’s detention center — has had 15 months to prepare and that the defense’s rights have been respected.
Karadzic is charged with genocide over the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in July 1995. He is also charged over the 43-month siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo by Serb forces.
The break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s saw some of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II as Serbs, Croats and Muslims fought for territory. More than 100,000 people were killed in warfare and through policies such as “ethnic cleansing.”
Karadzic went into hiding from 1996 but was discovered living in Belgrade in July last year.
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