UN Tribunal To Announce Final Ruling In Case Against Former Bosnian Serb Leader Karadzic

The UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) will announce on Wednesday its final ruling in the case against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who faces 40 years in prison for committing war crimes during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War

BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2019) The UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) will announce on Wednesday its final ruling in the case against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who faces 40 years in prison for committing war crimes during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

Karadzic, 73, was found guilty on 10 counts, including genocide, in March 2016 by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which has been replaced by the IRMCT. The former leader immediately filed an appeal, refusing to plead guilty and saying that the ruling was based on "rumors." The prosecution also appealed the ruling, insisting that Karadzic, who ruled the Republika Srpska between 1992 and 1996, should get a life sentence.

Karadzic was arrested in 2008 in Belgrade after having been on the run for over a decade. He has faced charges since the end of the Bosnian War, which erupted between Bosnian Muslims, Serbs and Croatians in 1992, when Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaimed independence following the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

While he initially faced 11 charges, one count of genocide in seven Bosnian municipalities was dropped, since prosecutors had failed to provide enough evidence. The second genocide charge related to the Srebrenica massacre that ended with 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks being killed in July 1995 remained in place.

Meanwhile, Karadzic's defense believes that he is not guilty, and that the ruling should be annulled over incorrectly found facts and procedural violations.

"I think that the ruling can be commuted, taking into consideration that his link to the Srebrenica events and the level of his responsibility is one of the main charges. During the court process and especially now, in our appeal, we have argued against this count most actively. Personally, I believe that we have managed to refute any link between former President Karadzic and the events in Srebrenica," lawyer Goran Petronijevic told Sputnik.

He added that he expected some other counts to be rejected as well.

"However, the court practice of The Hague's tribunal shows that sometimes, when one of the non-major counts is rejected, the sentence is not reduced," Petronijevic added.

The panel of judges of the IRMCT Appeals Chamber, which is handling Karadzic's case, has been partially changed upon the defendant's request, causing a slight delay in the appeal hearing. Theodor Meron, former ICTY head and the presiding judge in Karadzic's appeal, has withdrawn from the appeal.

"This man obviously had anti-Serb views, and even the judges of the tribunal said that he was putting pressure on the court, under instructions by the US embassy," Petronijevic said.

The ruling of the five-judge panel will be read out at 2:00 p.m. local time (13:00 GMT).