Karadzic Trial Begins Without Him
2009-10-28 9:12
There was no defendant again but this time the trial of Radovan Karadzic went ahead anyway.
On the second day of the UN tribunal at The Hague the prosecution opened it's case.
[Alan Tieger, Prosecution Lawyer]:
"He had ethnically cleansed vast portions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and had surrounded and besieged its capital."
The prosecution went on to accuse the former Bosnian Serb leader of planning to kill 300,000 Muslims.
[Alan Tieger, Prosecution Lawyer]:
"This case, your honours, 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."
Karadzic has denied 11 war crimes arising from the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990's.
The charges include genocide, relating to the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebenica.
Many of those who lost loved ones in the atrocity were furious he failed to show up again.
[Nirmela Kulenovic, Mothers of Srebrenica]:
"Radovan Karadzic, the war criminal, failed to appear again and I think that makes him a coward, and a coward in front of all Serbian people."
Karadzic spent 11 years on the run. He was arrested in Belgrade last July working as a doctor of alternative medicine.
His lawyer says he will attend his trial but not yet.
[Marko Sladojevic, Defense Lawyer]:
"He works very hard on his case, he worked until 5 am the day before yesterday and I talk to him regularly and if we get enough time to prepare and to present our proper defence and an adequate defence, he will appear before the court definitely."
But the judge has warned the trial may go ahead without him.
A decision will be made once the prosecution has completed its opening statements on Monday.
