Radovan Karadzic Extradited to The Hague
30 July 2008 Top war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic has
been transferred to the UN Tribunal at The Hague
by order of Serbia’s
Justice Ministry.
Karadzic arrived at the Detention Unit in
Scheweningen, outside The Hague,
around 0800 CEST (0600 GMT).
Karadzic left the detention unit in Belgrade
around 0400 CEST, from where he was taken by Serbian Government plane to Rotterdam, and then transferred by helicopter to The Hague.
According to ICTY his initial appearance has
been scheduled to take place Thursday, 31 July 2008 at 16:00 before Judge Alphons Orie..
Serbia’s Justice Ministry
ordered his extradition after the Court did not receive an appeal and the judges indicated that all conditions had been met
for his transfer to The Hague.
Radovan Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade
on July 21. He had been using a false identity
card, issued in the name of Dragan Dabic, since 1999 and has lived and moved
freely in Belgrade. Read more: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/12061/
Justice Report is told by the spokeswoman at the Office of the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia that, upon his arrival,
each indictee is sent to the Detention Unit, where he is met by the commander.
"As soon as he arrives he will undergo a medical examination. After that
he will be apprised on the rules and conditions in the Detention Unit. Each
indictee then meets the Secretariat representatives, who informs him of the
rules and procedures in force at The
Hague," Nerma Jelacic, the Tribunal spokesperson,
said.
Once this is completed, a trial judge makes a decision as to when the indictee
will make his first appearance before the Court and when the plea hearing is to
take place. These should be scheduled "as soon as possible”, but before 30
days expires.
Karadzic had been hiding since 1995, evading a United Nations war crimes trial
where he was expected to answer charges over the killing of up to 8,000 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 International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
indicted Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic, with responsibility
for masterminding atrocities and genocide during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.
Karadzic will join Stojan Zupljanin at The Hague,
who was arrested in Serbia
more than a month ago, in early June. He was transferred to The Hague 10 days after the arrest, because
he attempted to avoid the extradition by all means. He was brought to The Hague on June 21 and
already made his first appearance before the judges on June 23.
Zupljanin was arrested on June 11, after having been hiding in Pancevo, near Belgrade, for eight
years.
The indictment, which contains 12 counts, charges him with persecution,
extermination, murder, torture, cruel treatment, deportation and other crimes
committed against Bosnian Muslims and Croats in the course of 1992.
The list of the Hague fugitives now contains the names of Mladic and Goran
Hadzic, charged with crimes in Croatia
during the 1991-1995 war there.
Justice Report is a
specialist reporting agency focusing on war crimes trials taking place before
local courts; development of the local legal system; and efforts to come to
terms with the past.
Read more
TRIAL: A Slap in the Face of Justice Expectations
Bosnian authorities have failed to provide access to justice and reparations for thousands of victims of rape and other sexual violence – says a report carried out by the Swiss organisation TRIAL.
Read more
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
Komentari:
Nema komentara.