Karadzic Again Refuses to Enter Plea

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic this week refused to respond to charges in the current indictment against him, saying he was waiting for a new one that is due to be filed.



Karadzic faces charges for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to Bosnia’s 1992-95 war.



He was arrested in Belgrade at the end of July and transferred to the Hague tribunal shortly after that.



Hague prosecutors are currently reviewing the current indictment against Karadzic.



When Judge Ian Bonomy – who has replaced Judge Alphonse Orie as a pre-trial judge in this case – called on the suspect to enter a plea to the operative indictment, the accused said he had “no interest in listening to that indictment, not only because I'm expecting a new one to be filed, but also because I have not yet put together my team of associates and helpers”.



At a hearing held a month ago, Karadzic made similar comments and said he would not enter a plea on the current indictment because he knew it was going to be amended.



Prosecutors then promised to amend the indictment “as soon as possible”.



However, at a further hearing on August 29, they said they needed one more month.



“Can you explain to me what the difficulty is that you're having in dealing with the issues in such a prominent case, in which the indictment was first filed over eight years ago?” Judge Bonomy asked the prosecution.



Prosecutor Alan Tieger pointed out that he and his colleagues had to review “a vast volume of material”.



While they could have proceeded to “simply address any glaring or obvious issue related to the indictment”, he said, it seemed to them “far more prudent, particularly at this time – the early stage of the proceedings – to undertake the most comprehensive possible review to avert the need for any further issues later down the road”.



Judge Bonomy expressed his “surprise” that the indictment had not been tackled until Karadzic was apprehended.



“I find it surprising that bearing in mind the period since the original indictment, the aim that everyone was aware of – of concluding the business of this tribunal fairly expeditiously and the significance in the life and to the life of this tribunal of this particular case – that you tell me now that it's only once the accused is in custody that this exercise is being undertaken,” he concluded.



As the tribunal’s rules require that a plea has to be entered within 30 days of the initial appearance of the accused, Judge Bonomy entered a not guilty plea to all charges in the indictment on Karadzic’s behalf.



The next hearing is scheduled for September 17.



Merdijana Sadovic is IWPR’s Hague programme manager.