Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic [2] refused to answer questions at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY [3]) Nov. 5 at the appeals hearing of Momcilo Krajisnik. Krajisnick, a former Bosnian Serb parliamentary leader, is appealing a conviction and 27-year prison sentence handed down by the ICTY for various war crimes related to his role in atrocities committed against Croats and Muslims during the Bosnian war. Karadzic had given written testimony in support of Karjisnik's appeal, but refused to be cross-examined on the grounds that such testimony could be harmful to his own case.
Karadzic was arrested in July after evading capture for nearly 13 years. He was originally indicted in 1995 but had been in hiding under an assumed identity as an alternative medicine practitioner. After he repeatedly refused to enter a plea on the charges, an ICTY judge eventually entering a not guilty plea on his behalf. In September, ICTY prosecutors filed a motion to amend Karadzic's indictment, seeking to narrow it with the intent of calling fewer witnesses at trial.
See our last posts on Bosnia [4] and ex-Yugoslavia [5].
