'Witch-hunt means no fair hearing' says Karadzic; JUSTICE.Byline: By MARK ELLIS Mark Ellis is the name of:
RADOVAN Karadzic claimed yesterday he will not get a fair trial at The Hague because a "media witch-hunt" has already branded him a war criminal. The former Bosnian Serb leader made his outburst in a statement a day after he appeared at the UN war crimes tribunal to be accused of 11 charges, including genocide. Karadzic, 63, who spent more than 12 years on the run, complained of "drastic irregularities" in his case He ranted: "The first is the media witch-hunt which began in the Muslim media even before the beginning of the armed conflict and which proclaimed me a war criminal at a time when the only victims were Serbs. "It is now unimaginable to many people that this court could acquit To set free, release or discharge as from an obligation, burden or accusation. To absolve one from an obligation or a liability; or to legally certify the innocence of one charged with a crime. acquit v. me. I believe that this fact seriously jeopardises the trial itself." The 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity he faces include two of genocide. These refer to the 43-month siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo was the longest siege in the history of modern warfare, lasting from April 5 1992 to February 29 1996. It was fought during the Bosnian War between the forces of the Bosnian government, who had declared independence from Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav and the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica. Last night Karadzic's wife Ljiljana told of their emotional phone reunion when he called from his cell in The Hague. She said: "It was like talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to someone who has returned from the dead. He sounded calm." The couple had not spoken for six years while Karadzic was in hiding Adv. 1. in hiding - quietly in concealment; "he lay doggo" doggo, out of sight . |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion