SERBIA:RADOVAN KARADZIC has chosen to represent himself against charges of genocide and masterminding ethic cleansing during the Bosnian war.
Looking clean-shaven, older and thinner in his first public appearance for more than a decade, the former Bosnian Serb leader told the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia yesterday that he would waive his right to legal representation. Shorn of the long beard and hair that he wore as a disguise since he went on the run 11 years ago, Karadzic said that he had an "invisible adviser" and he would enter a plea after properly studying the charges against him.
Karadzic faces two charges of genocide over the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica, the worst atrocity in Europe since the second World War. The leader of the Bosnian Serbs in the 1992-1995 war is the most prominent war crimes suspect brought before the tribunal since the late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, who died in detention in 2006 before his trial ended.
Karadzic told Judge Alphons Orie, who presided over the hearing, that his arrest in Belgrade last week was irregular because he had been kidnapped by civilians and held for three days with no right to a phone call or even a text message to tell his relatives.
"You were misinformed about the date of my arrest . . . There were numerous irregularities concerning my relation to this institution and my appearance here," said Karadzic, who was transferred to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Wednesday morning.
Dressed in a dark suit and tie and wearing his trademark white bouffant hairstyle much shorter than when he was last seen by the wider public, Karadzic said he feared for his life. "If Holbrooke wants my death and regrets there is no death sentence at this court, I want to know if his arm is long enough to reach me here," said Karadzic, referring to former US Bosnian peace mediator Richard Holbrooke, whom he alleges agreed in the mid-1990s to safeguard him from being transferred to The Hague if he withdrew from public life.
Mr Holbrooke, who dubbed Karadzic Europe's Osama bin Laden, denies the allegation.
Karadzic appeared tired but composed when answering a range of questions about his identity at the start of the hearing. But as the hearing drew to a close he became much more animated when Judge Orie refused to allow him to read out a four-page statement on "irregularities" surrounding his arrest. Given two minutes to raise his concerns with the court, Karadzic also criticised comments by tribunal chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz, who has emphasised the need to conduct an efficient trial in the wake of the Milosevic case, which was not completed before the former Serbian leader died in his cell while in detention in The Hague.
Karadzic, who could be tempted to follow Milosevic's example by turning his war crimes trial into a media showcase by representing himself, said speed mattered in a showdown between gunslingers, not in a courtroom. He warned that a speedy trial suggested that there may have been a deal done between the court and the prosecution council. He said he would not enter a plea against the long list of charges read out by Judge Orie until he had properly studied them. Offered a chance to have the indictment read to him, he declined, saying: "I'm not interested in having someone else read an indictment to me. I would rather receive the new indictment that has been announced and sufficient time to study it, then have my initial appearance after that and enter my plea."
The prosecution confirmed that it would probably amend the official indictment of the Bosnian Serb, which was drawn up back in 2000. The amendments could take account of changes to the law and evidence since the original indictment was drawn up.
Karadzic will be expected to enter his plea to the charges against him at the next hearing, which is scheduled for August 29th.