MOSCOW, September 29 (RIA Novosti) — The five-year trial of Radovan Karadzic, a former Bosnian Serb politician, charged with genocide and war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnia War, entered its last phase in the Hague-based UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Monday, Deutsche Welle reports.
“After hundreds of witnesses, 80,000 pages of transcripts, and 10,000 exhibits, the policy of ethnic cleansing is finally exposed. And Karadzic was its driving force," said Prosecutor Alan Tieger during the court session, adding that Karadzic should be given a life sentence for committed atrocities.
Karadzic was a President of the Republika Srpska in 1992-1996 and pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing against the non-Serb residents of Bosnia, with the aim to establish an "ethnically pure" Serbian state, as reported by the News Tribune. He is being accused of 11 crimes, including Srebrenica massacre, numerous ethnic cleansings and persecution of non-Serb population as well as crimes against humanity.
“Under his command and oversight, Karadzic’s subordinates and those cooperating with them expelled, killed, tortured and otherwise mistreated hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Croats,” the prosecution said in a statement, cited by Balkan Insight.
Karadzic went underground after the end of the war. In 2008, he was arrested in Serbia and brought to the tribunal.
According to Balkan Insight, Karadzic denies his involvement in the above mentioned crimes and hopes for a not-guilty verdict.
The final verdict is expected somewhere in the middle of 2015.
