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Karadzic to Appeal Hague Extradition

23 July 2008  Radovan Karadzic’s lawyer Svetozar Vujacic says that on Friday the former Bosnian Serb leader will appeal the decision by the Belgrade court to extradite him to The Hague.

Vujacic, speaking to reporters in front of the Special Court where he went to visit Karadzic on Wednesday, said since the appeal would be filed late on Friday, Karadzic can not be extradited before Monday.

This will allow him to extend his stay in Belgrade as long as possible and allow him to spend more time with his family.

Once the appeal is launched, the Serbian authorities have up to three days to rule on it. This means his extradition could take place over the weekend at the earliest or, at the latest, on Monday or Tuesday.

Like previous war crime suspects before him, Karadzic is likely to be taken to The Netherlands on a Serbian government plane, and straight to the United Nations detention unit in Scheveningen.

“Karadzic in Serbia will have a legal team to help him but before the Tribunal he will defend himself, as Vojislav Seselj does superbly," Vujacic said, referring to the suspected paramilitary leader and chief of Serbia’s Radical Party who is facing trial at The Hague for war crimes during Bosnia’s 1992-1995 war.

Vujacic added that Karadzic, has shaved and had his hair cut, looking the same as he did 14 years ago but quite older.

Earlier the spokesman for Belgrade's War Crimes Prosecutor's Office, Bruno Vekaric he was confident Karadzic will be extradited in the coming days.

"Theoretically, this could happen next week....or even earlier if the council comes up with decision faster," Vekaric said.

Karadzic, who was arrested late on Monday, had been hiding in Belgrade under a false identity as a doctor, top Serbian officials said Tuesday. Read more: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/11986/

Karadzic had been at large since 1995, evading a UN war-crimes trial where he was expected to answer charges over the killing of some 7,000 Bosniak men and boys in the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in 1995, the siege of Sarajevo, the killing of civilians, the destruction of property and other war crimes committed during the three-year war.

In 1995, the ICTY indicted Karadzic and his top military commander, Ratko Mladic, with responsibility for masterminding atrocities and genocide during the Bosnian war.

"Radovan Karadzic is indicted by The Hague Tribunal and we expect Belgrade to fulfill its obligations to the Tribunal and transfer him under our jurisdiction," said International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic.

"As far as the tribunal is concerned the sooner that happens, the better. We are prepared," she added.