Karadzic no-show at UN trial

Karadzic no-show at UN trial

A Bosnian Muslim woman from the Srebrenica area, Dzemila Mustajbasic, 76, reacts as she listens to a news report on the radio on the war crimes trial of Radovan Karadzic, in a refugee center near Zivinice, 72 kilometers north of Sarajevo, on Tuesday.By Reed Stevenson - Reuters
THE HAGUE – Radovan Karadzic led a genocide campaign to make Bosnian Muslims “disappear from the face of the earth” and carve out a monoethnic state for Bosnian Serbs, war crimes prosecutors told a UN tribunal on Tuesday.
In opening statements, prosecutors painted a picture of the former Bosnian Serb leader as a supreme commander single-mindedly pursing a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” during the 1992-95 Bosnian war that killed an estimated 100,000 people.
They spoke to empty chairs on the defendant’s side of the court as Karadzic, who denies all charges, boycotted the trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for a second day.
“The Supreme Commander explained in October 1991 what was coming for Sarajevo: ‘Sarajevo will be a black cauldron where Muslims will die. They will disappear, that people will disappear from the face of the earth,’” senior prosecutor Alan Tieger cited Karadzic as saying in an intercepted call.
He was referring to the 43-month siege of Sarajevo that began in 1992 and killed an estimated 10,000 people as the former Yugoslavia was torn apart in the 1990s by Serbs, Croats and Muslims fighting for land.
“The supreme commander had directed his forces in a campaign to carve out a monoethnic state within his multiethnic country,” Tieger said.
“This case, your honors, is about that supreme commander. A man who harnessed the forces of nationalism, hatred and fear to implement his vision of an ethnically separated Bosnia – Radovan Karadzic.”

Shocking evidence

In addition to maps, slides and intercepted phone calls, Tieger showed several videos of Serbian snipers shooting Sarejevo citizens, as well as others of Karadzic on the hills overlooking the city, observing and directing the siege.
He promised to provide witnesses and testimony during the trial showing Karadzic’s active involvement in Sarejevo and other campaigns to wipe out minorities.
Karadzic, 64, has denied all 11 war crimes charges against him.
Judge O-Gon Kwon warned Karadzic to appear in court or risk having counsel assigned to him and being tried in absentia.
“Should the accused persist in his refusal to attend the trial... the trial will proceed in his absence, and counsel will be assigned,” the South Korean judge said.
Following the end of opening remarks next Monday, a hearing will be held on Tuesday to decide how to proceed if Karadzic continues his boycott. Options include trial in absentia, assigning counsel, seeking outside advice and adjourning to allow assigned legal counsel time to prepare. “If we get enough time to prepare a proper defense, he will will appear in court, definitely,” said Marko Sladojevic, one of Karadzic’s legal advisers, adding that Karadzic was following proceedings closely, working until 5 a.m. on the trial.
A mother who lost much of her family in Srebrenica condemned his absence.
“Today again the war criminal Karadzic did not appear at his trial,” Nirmela Kolenovic said. “For me, it means he is a coward and he has acted in a cowardly manner toward the Serbian people.”
The complex trial is expected to last until at least 2012 and involve hundreds of witnesses. There are more than 1 million pages of prosecution documents.