Radovan Karadzic "driving force" behind Bosnia's ethnic cleansing
- 10 years ago
Prosecutors in the Hague are winding up their case against the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who is standing trial for genocide.
He is accused of being a “driving force” behind the ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs in Bosnia during the civil war in the 1990s.
The 69-year-old says he was unaware of the 1995 slaughter of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.
Members of the Mothers of Srebrenica group representing the victims were in court on Monday to listen to the closing arguments.
Munira Subasic from the Mothers of Srebrenica said: “I really expect this court to make a decision that will bring justice for us. Just a minimum of justice that would help victims of genocide, especially us ‘Mothers of Srebrenica’, otherwise the court is pointless and can’t do its job. If Karadzic doesn’t receive life in prison it would be a clear message that the world and Europe wanted all this to happen because we are of Muslim origin.”
As the trial reaches an end, support remains for Karadzic in his home town of Pale in Bosnia.
His daughter Sonja Karadzic-Jovicevic is about to stand as parliamentary candidate for the SDS party – once led by her father – running on a ticket of “Serb solidarity”
She says her father is not getting a fair trial: “In the six and a half years of the trial, he has proven so many things that I think that, if there is justice, and if The Hague tribunal respected that, and if the Hague tribunal were not just an emissary of the NATO alliance, he would be released.”
Prosecutors are seeking the maximum penalty of life imprisonment against Karadzic who faces 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Karadzic is expected to deliver his closing remarks on Wednesday (October 1).
He is accused of being a “driving force” behind the ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs in Bosnia during the civil war in the 1990s.
The 69-year-old says he was unaware of the 1995 slaughter of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.
Members of the Mothers of Srebrenica group representing the victims were in court on Monday to listen to the closing arguments.
Munira Subasic from the Mothers of Srebrenica said: “I really expect this court to make a decision that will bring justice for us. Just a minimum of justice that would help victims of genocide, especially us ‘Mothers of Srebrenica’, otherwise the court is pointless and can’t do its job. If Karadzic doesn’t receive life in prison it would be a clear message that the world and Europe wanted all this to happen because we are of Muslim origin.”
As the trial reaches an end, support remains for Karadzic in his home town of Pale in Bosnia.
His daughter Sonja Karadzic-Jovicevic is about to stand as parliamentary candidate for the SDS party – once led by her father – running on a ticket of “Serb solidarity”
She says her father is not getting a fair trial: “In the six and a half years of the trial, he has proven so many things that I think that, if there is justice, and if The Hague tribunal respected that, and if the Hague tribunal were not just an emissary of the NATO alliance, he would be released.”
Prosecutors are seeking the maximum penalty of life imprisonment against Karadzic who faces 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Karadzic is expected to deliver his closing remarks on Wednesday (October 1).