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Karadzic Family Files Appeal

29 November 2007  After it reviews the appeal filed by the war crimes fugitive's family, the Appellate Chamber of the Court of BiH will decide whether it will issue a temporary ban on the free use of their property.

Justice Report has learnt that Dragisa Jokic, attorney of the family of Hague indictee Radovan Karadzic, has filed an appeal against a decision rendered by the Court of BiH ordering a temporary ban on the use of that family's property.

Jokic claims that the decision was rendered on November 23 this year. However, the attorney has not provided any details concerning the appeal, which he believes has now been forwarded to the Appellate Chamber of the Court of BiH.

The temporary ban on the use of the property refers to the house, which belongs to Karadzic's wife Ljiljana Zelen Karadzic in Krivace settlement; the apartment owned by his daughter Sonja and her husband Branislav Jovicevic, as well as business premises, which are under construction. In addition, the list of property contains the apartment owned by Karadzic's son Sasa.

All the above-mentioned objects are located on the territory of Pale, where Karadzic, the wartime leader of the Bosnian Serbs, was stationed in the nineties. For ten years, Karadzic has managed to evade an international warrant issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, which charges him with having committed genocide and war crimes during the war.

According to the current law, which was passed in 2006, the temporary measures can be introduced in order to forbid some persons from selling their property or gaining any financial benefits from its use.

"This is a very complicated case, which should be conducted according to the Criminal Code of BiH. As far as I am concerned, the family members should have been examined prior to making such a decision, but this is one of the issues covered by the appeal," said Jokic, adding that the aim of the temporary measures is to "disable [the family's] ability to help Karadzic escape".

Court representatives have not been able to confirm or deny if such a decision has been rendered. Selma Hadzic, a representative of the Public Outreach Section of the Court of BiH, told us the following:
"In view of the investigation, which is currently conducted, I cannot tell you if the decision has been rendered or not".

The State Prosecutor's Office has also not given Justice Report any details concerning these measures.

In addition to the case of Karadzic's family, the Court of BiH earlier rendered a decision ordering a temporary ban on the use of property to persons who are considered to have provided help to ICTY indictee Slobodan Zupljanin in his escape. By that decision, his son's property was blocked.

The international community has repeatedly asked for the introduction of these measures against the members of Karadzic's family, and also against other ICTY fugitives who are believed to be in BiH.