The Hague Prosecutor: Karadzic Masterminded Ethnic Cleansing

A file photograph showing former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic (R) being assisted to open his brief case as he appears in court at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. Photo by BGNES

Prosecutors at the trial of former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, labeled him the leader of an ethnic cleansing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The court ruled the trial in The Hague could resume a day after it was adjourned, despite Karadzic continuing to boycott it.

"This case is about that supreme commander, a man who harnessed the forces of nationalism, hatred and fear to implement his vision of an ethnically separated Bosnia: Radovan Karadzic. He ethnically cleansed vast portions of Bosnia and Hercegovina during the war,“ Prosecutor Alain Tieger said in his opening remarks, quoted by BBC.

Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade in 2008, living under false identity, 13 years after he was first indicted by the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal for genocide.

The former President of the Republic of Srpska is accused of authorizing the shooting of civilians during the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and orchestrating the slaughter of some 8,000 Muslim men in the Eastern Bosnian town of Srebernica during the Bosnia war. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Karadzic denies all charges, and is representing himself at the trial. He says he still needs at least nine months to prepare his defense.

Tieger announced Tuesday that the court would consider imposing a lawyer to represent the former Bosnian leader, something his counsel in Belgrade says he would reject.

The Hague judges are said to be pressed to issue a rule by 2012, keeping in mind that the trial of former Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, ended without a verdict and he died died in custody.

Separately, former Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic - convicted of war crimes - has been released.

Plavsic was the highest ranking official from the former Yugoslavia to have pleaded guilty for her part in the Bosnian War. She was sentenced in 2003 to 11 years in a Swedish jail.

But a Swedish court has allowed her early release for good behavior

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