ICTY: Karadzic Claims Cause ‘Just and Holy’
THE HAGUE, MARCH 1 - On his arrival this morning in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) - where the trial has resumed in which he is accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity - former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic claimed he had acted as defender of the Serbian population in Bosnia, fighting for a “just and holy” cause, and that he had been the defender of “the greatness of a small nation in Bosnia-Herzegovina that had suffered for 500 years”. For the first time before ICTY judges, today Karadzic, 64, will be presenting the outlines of the line of defense he will be taking against charges of “ethnic cleansing” during the war in Bosnia. (ANSAmed).
Mr. Karadzic was the first president of the Republika Srpska (Serb Republic) in Bosnia, which was formed in 1992 when Yugoslavia broke up. After war crimes charges were filed against him by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1996, Mr. Karadzic went underground and was a fugitive for twelve years.
Background information on Radovan Karadzic (caveat: Wikipedia) may be found here. For the MSM take on him, see The New York Times or PBS. For an alternative point of view, read the news story from today’s Serbianna. Also, here’s a news story about his arrest from the summer of 2008.
As is usual with Slavic matters, one of the best places to keep up with the progress of the Karadzic trial will be at Natalie’s place. She has posted some preliminary background information about the trial, including a list of FAQs with their answers. Some excerpts are below:
Karadzic Trial: An Introductory Guide- - - - - - - - -
A very important event is starting tomorrow, an event that the vast majority of Americans probably do not know about. It is the trial of Dr. Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb president. Dr. Karadzic’s trial is extremely important. He is a former world leader being tried for crimes that he is not guilty of.
I have prepared this introductory guide to Dr. Karadzic’s trial so that readers can learn more about this grave miscarriage of justice.
Watching the trial
Anyone can watch the trial. It is broadcast from the ICTY website (with a thirty-minute delay, if I remember correctly) in an effort to make the tribunal seem more open and legitimate (do not be fooled; it is neither legitimate nor open). The schedule of courtroom appearances is here. If you intend to watch something, be sure to check the schedule—I have seen trial times shifted around even at the last minute. To watch the streaming video or hear the audio, go to the homepage and click on the video or audio links in the left sidebar. Note that there are three courtrooms, which often have cases going on simultaneously. Finally, do not forget about the time difference. The times listed on the schedule are Netherlands time, which is six hours ahead of Eastern Time in the United States.
Why was the trial delayed?
Regular readers will recall that the trial was supposed to start in fall of 2009. It did not because Dr. Karadzic said that he did not have enough time to properly prepare his defense. He even boycotted his court appearances. The tribunal eventually moved the start date later to the beginning of March, but forced court-appointed counsel on him. And, in typical poor taste, the tribunal withheld payment from Dr. Karadzic’s legal team (I confirmed this story with a member of the team). As far as I can tell, Dr. Karadzic does intend to make his opening statement in court on March 1 and March 2, though he wanted the trial postponed to June.
What charges does Dr. Karadzic face?
He faces 11 charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Counts 1 and 2 concern genocide against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats. Count 3 concerns persecutions against Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims on political and/or religious grounds. Counts 4, 5, and 6 concern extermination and murder, especially the killing of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica and killing of civilians in Sarajevo. Counts 7 and 8 concern deportation and inhuman acts. Counts 9 and 10 concern terror and unlawful acts against civilians. Count 11 concerns the taking of UN military observers as hostages. (Thanks to the BBC for a summary of the charges.)
Read the rest at Birdbrain, including Natalie’s predictions about Mr. Karadzic’s defense, and his prospects for acquittal.
Hat tip for the ANSAmed story: Insubria.
10 comments:
Dr. Karadzic can't get a fair trial because the ICTY isn't a real court; it's a kangaroo tribunal tasked with writing the official history of the 1990s Balkans wars in line with the official policy of the US and Eurabia: evil Serbs committing genocide against innocent Muslims, who were then rescued by the West. This is, of course, bollocks, but there you have it. The greatest irony is that the Muslims themselves don't buy the rescue part, and any gratitude they are supposed to feel towards the West has never materialized. Quite the contrary, the hysterical propaganda about
"genocide" has only helped motivate Muslims the world over to join the cause of global Jihad.
Are they gonna put Chief Mohawk on trial next?
Another Stalinist show trial. If anyone should be on trial for genocide it should be the Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo.
And the Croatians.
I'm saddened to see Gates of Vienna, which has an important message to relay, being used to further a nationalist, ethnic-cleansing agenda, that is only partially related to the "war against Islamic aggression." In the last comment Arius gave away the truth when he casually threw the Croatians into his dream trial for genocide.
The fact is that Dr. Karadzic is not an anti-jihad crusader, he is a greater-Serbia ethnic nationalist, motivated as much by dreams of revenge against the Croatian Ustasha as against the Turkish victors in 1389.
Were crimes committed by Bosnian Muslims during the Bosnian war? Of course they were. But this attempt to whitewash the culpability of Karadzic and his ilk by the likes of Natalie is just too much.
It is important to remember how the Bosnian war started. The province's Muslims and Croats formed a coalition which, in a free and fair election, voted to secede from the disintegrating Yugoslavia. The military actions that followed were instigated by Dr. Karadzic and his goons, aided and abetted by Slobo and the Serbs.
Dr. Karadzic deserves to be imprisoned for a long, long time.
Ex-Gordon, come on!
Speak the Truth!!
I don't like to accuse the Croats for genocide because 1) They were at war, and 2) I damn like Croatia and feel Croatia to be "Western European" or "Central Western" why Serbia is a far away Balkanic place.
Nevertheless, when Aurius speaks of Croatian genocide against Serbs, he speaks about what happened in Krajina, where Serbs were the majority before the war, and virtually disapeared after the war. In an entire region! That is now an Eastern province of Croatia.
Now tell me what province in the Balkans was emptied of muslims in the 90s?
Concerning your claim that Karadzic was a "Great Serbia" advocator, consider this:
Bosnia is a state dominated by Bosniaks, who are a muslim people. Half of the country is comprised by Republica Srpska, virtually only inhabited by Serbs. It is about half the land and has almost half the people, certainly more than one third of all Bosnians.
The other part of Bosnia is comprised of the "Federation of Bosnians and Croats". The Croats are an overwhelming majority in the coastal regions.
So, Bosnia is 50% Serb and Croat.
One third of Bosnians live in half of the country. An half that is pratically only inhabited by Serbs.
Bosnia's Adriatic coast is virtually only inhabited by Croats. Some 10% of Bosnians, or more, live there.
And you have the guts to say that Karadzic was advocating a greater Serbia by joining the Serbian Republic of Bosnia with Serbia proper?
Did you know that Bosnia never existed before as an independent islamic-dominated entity?
Please, explain us, how and in to what light is Bosnia not "Greatr Bosnia"? Or, Greater Islamic Empire in the heart of Europe?
Please, explain us.
And please, explain us how you have the displacency to say what you did on your early commentary.
Karadzic's fate will soon be the fate of all patriots who oppose the machinations of the western elites.
It is important to remember how the Bosnian war started. The province's Muslims and Croats formed a coalition which, in a free and fair election, voted to secede from the disintegrating Yugoslavia.
It was more complicated than that.
Germany's politically motivated decision to recognise Croatia, even before the EU Badinter Commission's findings that Croatia did not qualify for recognition, was the beginning of the end for Bosnia. Later the EU was forced to go along with Germany's decision to avoid a catastrophic split. The rights of Croatia's Serb minority under international law - including the European Badinter Commission's very own findings - were ignored in favour of maintaining EU unity and German domestic politics.
The Croats no longer had any incentive to compromise and Bosnia's government, which said it would remain in Yugoslavia if Croatia did, declared independence from Yugoslavia. Seeing that the Europeans applied international law in Croatia selectively to suit their (actually Germany's) preferred policies the Serbs then declared independence from Bosnia.
I'm Croatian and this is hilarious!
Krajina Serbs were only a pretext for Serbian aggression on Croatia. They occupied and ethnically cleansed 30% of Croatia (only 12% of population were Serbs), terrorized whole country for almost 5 years and refused all proposals for peaceful reintegration. We have a saying here, he who sows wind, harvests the storm.
GOOD RIDDANCE! OH YEAH!
And BTW, defending that wraith Radovan Karadžić... really, what purpose does that serve? You are shooting yourself in the leg.
Post a Comment
All comments are subject to pre-approval by blog admins.
Gates of Vienna's rules about comments require that they be civil, temperate, on-topic, and show decorum. For more information, click here.
Users are asked to limit each comment to about 500 words. If you need to say more, leave a link to your own blog.
Also: long or off-topic comments may be posted on news feed threads.
To add a link in a comment, use this format:
<a href="http://mywebsite.com">My Title</a>
Please do not paste long URLs!
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.