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Karadzic to appear in court in The Hague Thursday
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-30 23:56 BRUSSELS - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic will make his first appearance at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague Thursday, Dutch media reported Wednesday.
The hearing, which is scheduled to begin at 4 pm, will be presided by Dutch UN judge Alphons Orie.
The United Nations war crimes court said he will be asked to make pleas on each of the 11 counts of charges against him, including genocide, and crimes against humanity. However, Karadzic may not enter a formal plea until the end of the 30-day period allowed under court rules, according to his lawyer Svetozar Vujacic. Karadzic, 63, was extradited to the Netherlands in the early hours Wednesday morning to stand trial. He is now in the UN jail in Scheveningen some 3 km from the court, where other former Yugoslav indictees, including ex-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, were held. The arrest of Karadzic showed that there is no alternative to the arrest of war criminals and that there can be no safe haven for fugitives, ICTY prosecutor Serge Brammertz said Wednesday. Brammertz praised Serbian authorities for arresting Karadzic, the former president of the self-proclaimed Republika Srpska and supreme commander of the Bosnian Serb Army. He said he hopes they will soon arrest Serb military leader Ratko Mladic. Karadzic was arrested by Serbian authorities on July 21 after 13 years on the run. Brammertz said it will take months for the prosecution and defense to prepare Karadzic's trial. A tribunal spokeswoman said Wednesday that the tribunal will ensure Karadzic's well-being and "right to a fair trial as much as possible." |
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