Courtside

Karadzic Determined to Represent Himself

Former political leader said self-representation was only way for “truth about our conflict” to emerge.

By Simon Jennings in The Hague (TU No 569, 19-Sep-08)

Bosnian Serb wartime president Radovan Karadzic this week confirmed his intention to represent himself during his trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY.

The pre-trial judge, Iain Bonomy, asked him at the beginning of the hour-long session whether he was appearing alone in court.

“I am never alone. But I am here alone. I have my invisible advisers, but I am a Gemini, so there are two of us anyway,” said the accused, smiling at the judge.

Karadzic, 63, was making his third appearance before a tribunal judge since he was taken into custody in The Hague in July.

He stands accused of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including those related to the 44-month siege of Sarajevo, and the genocide in Srebrenica where more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were massacred in 1995.

The status conference this week was the first of a succession of meetings to enable the defence and prosecution to prepare for the trial.

“I have to hold the reins of my defence in my hands, first of all to determine the truth about our conflict … and then to defend myself,” Karadzic told the judge.

Judge Bonomy asked Karadzic to consider this decision carefully, and to bear in mind the burden it might entail.

“Obviously, the decision … is yours,” he told Karadzic. “I simply urge you from years of experience to consider whether sitting here in court [and] preparing out of court on your own to present the case is the right and best way to do it.”

Karadzic, sporting a thick quiff of hair reminiscent of his wartime style, seemed upbeat.

He also spoke about his claim that Richard Holbrooke, the former United States envoy, offered him an immunity deal in 1996 if he withdrew from the political scene. Holbrooke, who has long dismissed the allegation, played a key role in brokering the 1995 Dayton accord which brought the war to an end.

Karadzic asked Judge Bonomy to delay a decision on the relevance of this alleged agreement until he had investigated it further.

“I would like to ask the trial chamber to refrain from ruling in the matter because there will be new evidence,” he said.

Karadzic claims an immunity deal was sanctioned by the tribunal’s governing body, the United Nations Security Council – not just by Holbrooke and the US.

“Mr Holbrooke wasn’t speaking only in the name of America, but it was agreed upon by all the members of the Security Council,” he said.

Karadzic also claimed that an attempt was made on his life. “I have irrefutable evidence that NATO did try to liquidate me,” he said.

Judge Bonomy said he and his fellow judges would consider delaying the decision on the relevance of the alleged agreement, previously scheduled for next week. But he warned Karadzic that tribunal laws might render his efforts futile.

“There is a legal issue involved in your submission that goes to the power of a person such as Holbrooke to give undertakings on behalf of a tribunal,” said Judge Bonomy. “In other words, whether – even if all you’ve said is true – it ought to have or could have any influence or impact on the work of an independent tribunal.

“I hope you have taken full legal advice before making the submissions you’ve made and that you are not selling yourself short by a failure to secure proper legal representation on this particularly important issue.”

The prosecution denies an immunity agreement was ever made. It has written to the trial chamber stating that even if a deal were proved to exist, it would not be legally binding at the tribunal.

“None of the factual allegations made in the submission, even if proved, could provide a basis for a legal remedy,” wrote prosecutors.

Prosecutor Alan Tieger told the court this week that they would file a motion to amend the indictment by September 22.

It is not known what alterations to the charges, if any, can be expected. Once received, judges will decide whether to approve any amendments before Karadzic will be asked to enter a new plea.

On August 29, Judge Bonomy entered a plea of “not guilty” on Karadzic’s behalf after he refused to plead when the existing indictment was read.

Karadzic also sought clarification on how his case had been assigned to trial chamber one. But Judge Bonomy said that the matter concerned the tribunal’s president, Fausto Pocar, and not its judges, firmly warning Karadzic not to divert proceedings.

“Please don’t use this court as a platform for raising issues that don’t relate to the matters that are before us here,” Bonomy told the accused.

Some other defendants who have represented themselves have persistently strayed off the subject,
including the late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic and Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Serbian Radical Party.

While Judge Bonomy did not set a date for the next pre-trial hearing, he said it would be within the next month.

Simon Jennings is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.