Europe

Karadzic refuses to plead at UN tribunal

Article published on the 2008-08-29 Latest update 2008-08-29 14:13 TU

Karadzic at the hearing
(Photo: Reuters)

Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic has refused to enter pleas at his war crimes trial, prompting an automatic not guilty plea from the UN War Crimes Judge. Karadzic faces a total of 11 charges, including genocide and crimes against humanity.

During the hearing, Karadzic accused the court of being part of a conspiracy against him.

"This court is representing itself falsely as a court of the international community where it is in fact a court of Nato," he said.

"I am deeply convinced this court has an aim to liquidate me," he added. "I have stopped using a false name so I think all parties should do the same."

Karadzic said he would challenge the court's jurisdiction at a hearing on 17 September.

Known as "The Butcher of Bosnia", Karadzic was arrested late July after 13 years on the run.

He is accused of orchestrating a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Muslims and Croats, to gain control over territory claimed by a breakaway Bosnian Serb mini-state in the 1992-95 Bosnian war, which claimed the lives of an estimated 100,000 people

Since Karazdic's arrest he has called on the UN court to demand evidence from former US diplomat Richard Holbrooke about an alleged secret deal.

The former Bosnian general claims Holbrooke had promised he would not face prosecution at the end of the war if he disappeared from public view.

Holbrooke, who has called Karadzic the "intellectual architect" of racial hatred in former Yugoslavia denies making such a deal.