Former Bosnian Serb leader in defiant defence
- 12 years ago
Accused of atrocities against humanity, former Bosnian-Serb wartime leader, Radovan Karadzic opens his defence with a defiant statement.
(SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) ACCUSED, RADOVAN KARADZIC, SAYING:
"Instead of being accused for happenings in our civil war, I should have been rewarded, and here is why: because I did everything in human power to avoid the war."
One of three former Bosnian Serb leaders brought to trial in the Hague, the 67-year-old is charged with responsibility for shelling Sarajevo and the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica in the 1990s.
Karadzic's statement prompted outrage among victims' families in Bosnia.
(SOUNDBITE) (Bosnian) KADA HOTIC WHO LOST HER SON AND HUSBAND IN 1995 SREBRENICA MASSACRE, SAYING:
"He is mocking us. I don't know if he is pretending to be insane or whether he is really trying to convince people that what he is saying is true."
Karadzic, who led the Bosnian Serb government, before going on the run, was acquitted of one count of genocide in June, but still faces 10 other charges.
More than 100,000 were killed and millions displaced following the break up of Yugoslavia in 1991.
(SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) ACCUSED, RADOVAN KARADZIC, SAYING:
"Instead of being accused for happenings in our civil war, I should have been rewarded, and here is why: because I did everything in human power to avoid the war."
One of three former Bosnian Serb leaders brought to trial in the Hague, the 67-year-old is charged with responsibility for shelling Sarajevo and the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica in the 1990s.
Karadzic's statement prompted outrage among victims' families in Bosnia.
(SOUNDBITE) (Bosnian) KADA HOTIC WHO LOST HER SON AND HUSBAND IN 1995 SREBRENICA MASSACRE, SAYING:
"He is mocking us. I don't know if he is pretending to be insane or whether he is really trying to convince people that what he is saying is true."
Karadzic, who led the Bosnian Serb government, before going on the run, was acquitted of one count of genocide in June, but still faces 10 other charges.
More than 100,000 were killed and millions displaced following the break up of Yugoslavia in 1991.