Bosnian Serb Leader Karadzic Demands Freedom

Lawyers for the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic have filed papers arguing all charges against him should be dropped.

They say US diplomat Richard Holbrooke promised him immunity from prosecution in 1996, on condition he gave up politics and public office.

Karadzic is on trial at the UN tribunal in The Hague, facing 11 charges including genocide.

The tribunal has said that any immunity deal would not be binding, the BBC reported Monday.

They say even if a deal, strongly denied by Holbrooke, had been agreed, the trial would proceed anyway.

Karadzic's lawyers filed a motion of more than 100 pages, demanding the court hold a special hearing to establish the truth of Karadzic's claims.

He says Holbrooke, then the US envoy to Bosnia, agreed to provide him with immunity at a meeting in Belgrade on 18-19 July 1996.

He also claims to have testimony from other witnesses, along with written documents and articles, to support his claim.

Karadzic was arrested and brought to the tribunal last year, after more than a decade in hiding.

He is accused of genocide over the massacre of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995, and is also charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court filed a not guilty plea on his behalf after he refused to offer a plea, saying the court lacked jurisdiction.

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