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Radovan Karadzic, one of the world’s most wanted men, was arrested yesterday 13 years after he was first indicted by the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal.
The 63-year-old war crimes suspect faces genocide charges for his role in the massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in Europe’s worst atrocity since the Second World War, and for organising the siege of Sarajevo which claimed 12,000 lives.
He was understood to have been brought before a hastily-convened court in Belgrade last night after he was seized by Serb forces inside the country, according to Boris Tadic, the President.
The arrest is a significant breakthrough for the new pro-western government in Serbia, a country which has faced international isolation while Karadzic and fellow war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb army commander, have remained at large.
The EU has made their hand-over a condition of progressing towards membership talks.
Radovan Karadzic led the self-proclaimed Serb administration of Bosnia in the early 1990s which resisted the country’s independence and suppressed other ethnic groups in some of the worst violence that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia.
He is likely to be put on trial at The Hague in the most high-profile prosecution arising from the Balkans conflict since that of Slobodan Milosevic ended with the death from natural causes of the former Serb president in 2006 before a verdict could be reached.
“This is a very important day for the victims who have waited for this arrest for over a decade,” said Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
“It is also an important day for international justice because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law and that sooner or later all fugitives will be brought to justice.”
Richard Holbrooke, the former US assistant secretary of state who negotiated the 1995 Dayton accords that ended the war in Bosnia, described Karadzic as “a real true architect of mass murder” and hailed the news of his arrest as “a tremendous step forward for Serbia’s desire to join the West”.
He said: “This is the most wanted man in Europe, the Osama bin Laden of Europe. He has evaded capture for almost 13 years. He was the primary intellectual architect of the ethnic cleansing.”
Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, the international community’s former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, called the arrest as an “extremely important piece of justice for the world at large”.
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What ever happened with Croatia kicking out more than half a million serbs in 1995. Every body seems to forget that one and aslo the illegal attack on SR Jugoslavija in 1999.
Robi, Perth, Western Australia
To Niall O Dochartaigh: Blame everything on Bush. Bill Clinton was president in 1999.
Darrell J. Smith, Rochester, USA
What's really a shame is that all of the world's focus is being shifted towards those evil Serbs, yet Croats and Muslims who commited equal if not worse attocities are not even on the justice radar...Let's not even talk about Blair and Clinton...Oh yeah, they're the "good guys"...right?
John, Toronto, Canada
Take note, George Herbert Walker Bush, George W. Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Condi Rice, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi you can run but you can't hide.
John Drake, Richmond, USA
"Great day for justice" said those that are not just! Some even
dare to compare him with Osama Bin Laden! Do you remember that Bill Clinton said that Serbs were responsible for WWII, when he attacked Serbia in 1999. Serbs were not on the side of the West that's why they had to pay.
Marko, Banjaluka, Republic of Srpska, BiH
Thats great news sooner or later everyone gets caught.
Ludi Haxhiu, fleet, England
over i million iraqis,what are they going to do about bush and his gang,that incldes phony tony as well.a crime is a crime whether it is 1 or 10,all this rubbish is a massive contradiction.wake up to yourselves.
cook, lismore, australia
May i ask u all who passed away muslim men of fighting age who under aquitted muslim militia leader Naser Oric killed nearly 4000 innocent Serb children women and men from a so called save haven. Please learn what went on.So Serbs are to be killed and if they react they are full of hate. Hypocrites.
Mitch, Sydney, Australia
Serbs lived in peace they forgave the same nazis in power in bosnia and croatia now for WW2 attrocities.
The only ones who can trial war crims in Balkans are Balkans themselves not a nato run court which excludes US citizens when Milosevic wanted Clinton on the stand he suddenly died. mmmm. think.
Mitch, Sydney, Australia
O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty toward God in Whom ye claim (your rights) of one another, and toward the wombs (that bare you)
Mark, Paris, France
Serbs are not violent, but the Anglo Saxon stock(US/UK)are!! US created a war against Iraq, Serbia, etc. Anglos colonized the world and try to act as if they are supreme leaders of the world. Ron Paul is right about the US being called the 'American' Empire.
Karadzic is not the criminal, Bush is.
Alex, Alexandria, USA
Plese don't compare Kradzic and Bush. Karadzic was a leader of people who wanted to be left alone and just stay in their homes. Bush is the leader of the nation that has military basis all over the world. Yesterday it was said that Karadzic killed 11000 now it is 100 000. What numer is next? 500 000
Kent, UK,
the truth is if you've got power - US, UK etc. - or an excuse in political correctness - e.g. Mugabe being black, or have no useful resources - Mugabe again, then no-one will trouble you. However, this doesn't make it any less right that Karadzic should be given life.
Marco, Krakow., Poland.
Karadic is considered a war hero by many Serbs, and why? Because he is a right-wing leader with strong Christian support who wants his people not to be done down by Muslims. Leftie commentators in this country and elsewhere don't want us to see him thus or his being closely akin to George W. Bush!
Geoffrey Woollard, Cambridge, England
I wonder how long he will last in the tender mercies of the court at the Hague? Before he meets the same kind of fate as Slobo?
Albert, Montreal, Canada
EU (i.e.Germany) created Karadzic's crimes. EU recognized ultranationalistic-serbofob Croatia & Bosnia in 1992 not caring a fig of 2.5mil Serbs who had been living there peacefully within Yugoslavia, the only country they believed in. Bloody 2ndWW scenario echoed in their heads then. EU imposed war.
Dejan, Belgrade, Serbia
So Jasmina, Serbia, who do you think is responsible for the atrocity of Srebrenica? Do you even care?
Robert, Bracknell, England
neil, London, UK
Talk for your self.
alot of people want it.
Ramon, rotterdam, netherlands
i love the way these numbers of supposed victims are thrown around. Of course nato has to use this to justify their war of aggression against serbia. what a pathetic attempt at the manipulation of the facts.
They should put bush and blair on trial if they are going to prosecute this man.
harvey, el paso, USA
"The real problem lies with serbian nation as a whole. They need to learn how to live in peace."
I will give my head if you know where is Serbia (names of countries starts with big letter) or Iraq. And please don't write about peace because your and some other "peacefull" countries are creating wars
Zlatko, Pancevo, SERBIA
How can you call the EU pathic. Lots of nations working together? Yea its not perfect it has its ups and downs but look what happend to Yugoslavia....This man is a war criminal. Bring him to justice so he can harm no more.
Nicholas, Cardiff, Wales
Finaly, I think that Bosnian Serbs dont have a thing to say about this than well deserved. Serbs are the most violent nation in late 80's. Masacre in Sandzak, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. I just think that they sould calm down and dissmis their Republica Srpska and just give up. They are DONE.
Michael, Berlin, Germany
This is a disgrace, not only are we complicit in the theft of Kosovo by Albanian migrants and the ethnic cleansing of serbs from their ancestral land, now we force them to humiliate themselves in public. And for what? An EU noone wants
neil, London, UK
War Criminals should be prosecuted what ever their nationality is.We can never foget when Lt Calley and his Charlies Company masscred the entire MyLai village even shooting babies in mothers arms . The GIs who were prosecuted for this crime were released and pardoned by the President Nixon himself.
Karen, Toronto, Canada
War crime? Bush, Blair?
Ran , York, UK
we dont need to arrest people just to get money for serbia? how about you arrest them for commiting the worst crimes in the history of your country and some of the worst in the history of the world, or isnt that a good enough reason jasmina?
will, grimsby, uk
Yes, it is a shame. The current traitors and renegates in power in Belgrade just for those "thirty pieces of silver" paid by the true war criminals, Uncle S. and the Eurokolkhoz, betrayed the nation and honor of Serbia and are plotting to send its own hero, Radovan Karadić, to the kangooroo court.
Andrzej Durlik, Baltimore, USA
Radovan Karadzic will always remain a Serbian Hero to all the true serbs. He defended his people like any indiviual would during a war and now he is being prosecuted for that how ridculous. No justice is being served here only lies.
Jovana, Los Angeles,
no matter what they do they cannot take away republika srpska - you may write history in whatever revisionist, inaccurate, one sided way you wish, but republika srpska lives on - maybe one day someone with courage will call holbrooke, albright, clark, blair, and the rest what they really are
njegos, pale, bos
The article claims that Karadzic is "the Osama bin Laden" of the Balkans when in fact Osama bin Laden was the ObL of the Balkans, leading the jihad. Karadzic & the other Bosnian Serbs were fighting against ObL & his terrorist mujhadeen.
Steve, Havre, USA
If he is 'brought to justice' it will be victors' justice - not to say murderers' justice since the West's takeover didn't even have a UN fig-leaf. More likely he will die in custody first, as tends to happen to Hague captives, without much comment from our odious media.
John B, Middlesbrough, UK
This and many things before couldn't be done if people of the rest of the world didn't beleive everything they hear from their media. Instead you say " Oh, those Serbs they are killers. Arrest them all." But you never happen to try to understand the matter. Your ignorace cost us years of our lives.
Dana, Serbia,
So when do UN leaders go on trial for fouling up Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The "winner," it seems, lacks moral integrity, which will surprise nobody.
Mike, Bristol,
Can a war-criminal be called a poet? I think a water-colour painter could be a war criminal, but not a poet.
Kevin Straw, Leicester,
I wonder will Blair and Bush be sitting in a court for their crimes against humanity for the bombings against Yugoslavia in '99 and the subsequent illegal invasion of Iraq which has cost the lives of over 1 million Iraqis not to mention the numerous torture camps from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo.
Niall O Dochartaigh, Waterford , Ireland
Jasmina of Serbia has summed it all up quite nicely: "I hate EU etc.". Maybe the Serbians should learn to stop hating everyone but themselves, and when they have, we'll resume talks.
Pity, when, after everything that's happened, we're trying to learn to get on without hate.
SteveH, London, UK
So why is Mugabe allowed to get away with the slaughter of twenty thousand Ndebele at the start of his rule and all the others that followed later. He's not even hiding.
Hoppers, Luxemburg,
why hasnt any Muslim or terrorist KLA member ever been charged?
why arent Tony Blair and Bill Clinton at the (phoney) Hague Court for illegally bombing Yugoslavia in 1999 for three months?
Those two are the biggest war criminals that should be at the International Criminal Court..................
Esther, Richmond, Surrey, England
this is great news for serbia, i was glad to hear it this morning. criminals and murderers must face justice, any serb(or anyone) supporting karadzic or mladic should be ashamed of him/her self.
radmila, serbia
radmila, novi sad, serbia
Let's just hope he doesn't die of 'natural causes' before he can be brought to justice.
Antony, London, UK
There definitely won't be any more episodes of father ted now
E
Mick Mills, Liverpool, UK
I find it staggering that we have the arrogance to declare that might is right. Again and again we in the west interfere when we feel like it and decide the fate of other nations. It is and should not be the role of the west to police the world. We should leave sovereign countries to themselves
Donald, Hull, England
I'm glad Karadzic is arrested and I hope Mladic will be as well. However, Haradinaj and Oric need to be sentenced! World should not forget that others are to be blamed, too, not just the Serbs!
Kristina, Belgrade, Serbia
Glad he is gone but remember that despite all the international hype war in Bosnia was Civil War and many of the criminals are still at large and nobody is even looking for them. Fate of 21 high profile Croats from Bugojno is still unknown and only few people are being investigated by Bosnian govt.
Igor, Seattle, USA
Good good good,
Let's have his trial fast this time...
csh, London, UK
I just hope the promis to Serbia joining the EU was a fibby. There is still too much denial and hate there. ( read Jasmina, Serbia )
robert, vancouver, bc
Too little, too late. The civilised world must not be fooled. Millosevic, Karadzic or Mlladic were only the actors chosen by Serbian Academy in search of Greater Serbia at other nations expense. The real problem lies with serbian nation as a whole. They need to learn how to live in peace.
Arber Pashtriku, Kent, UK
This is a step in the right direction for Serbia. However, the crimes that have been committed by Belgrade and with the support from Belgrade are mesmorizing. The next thing on the agenda is the delivery of Ratko Maladic and the removal of support for Serb nationalists in power in Bosnia. Let's see.
Amer, San Diego, USA
It was about time, but again this is just a chapter in the show run by the World against Bosnia and Herzegovina(and Muslims) and its citizen,whose lives are hard and who still pay the price for fools like Radovan. After all its Serbia being promised the entry into EU and being REWARDED FOR CRIMES!
Amra, London, UK
Disappointed! Why should Serbs abide with the E.U or The Hague? Why should he only face trial and not Agim Ceku? Serbs are not the only ones accountable for what happend in the breakup of Yugoslav and Serb leaders better start acting like that soon and demand ppl like Oric(again) to be prosecuted
Tomislav, Toronto, Canada
This terrorist must pay for his actions and justice shall prevail.
Hamad, Doha, Qatar
You can run but you can't hide. Don't make any holiday plans, sunshine.
Why Tony, you've gone quite pale.
Andrew Milner, Karuizawa, Japan
I hate EU. I hate Serbian leaders for what they are doing to get money and and membership for Serbia in EU. It is pathetic. We don't need to arrest all the people that someone says are guilty just because of deam money and some promised membership in some pathetic union. This is shame.
Jasmina, Serbia,
I wonder what Serbia are after.
Charles, London,