Last Hague War Crimes Tribunal Fugitive Arrested

Serge Brammertz chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor for the former Yugoslavia has urged Serbia to track down the last remaining war crimes tribunal fugitive, Goran Hadzic. Photo by BGNES

The last Hague war crimes tribunal fugitive, Goran Hadzic, has been arrested.

52-year-old Hadzic was a key figure in the self-proclaimed Serb republic of Krajina in 1992-1993, local state news agency b52 has reminded.

Hadzic is the last of the 161 people indicted by The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to be caught.

His arrest comes less than two months after Serbia caught former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic.

He faces 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including persecution, extermination, torture, deportation and wanton destruction for his involvement in atrocities committed by Serb troops in Croatia.

The former wartime leader was indicted in 2004 for his role in atrocities committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian conflict.

He went into hiding shortly after the sealed indictment against him was delivered to the government in Belgrade.

Serbia's failure to hunt down Hadzic was seen as the last big obstacle to the country gaining EU candidate status and opening accession talks.

Serbia now hopes to become a candidate for EU membership later in the year.

Serbian President Boris Tadic has scheduled an urgent news conference on the matter for 11 am local time on Wednesday.

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