DutchNews.nl - Karadzic extradited to The Hague (update)

Radovan Karadzic, the former leader of the Bosnian Serbs, was extradited to the Netherlands on Wednesday morning to stand trial for genocide and other war crimes.

The Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal confirmed that Karadzic arrived at the United Nations prison complex in Scheveningen by helicopter just after 8am on Wednesday morning.

Karadzic will make his first appearance at the UN tribunal on Thursday, the tribunal said. The hearing will begin at 4pm and will be presided by the Dutch UN judge Alphons Orie.

The BBC reported that Karadzic was taken from the court building in Belgrade in the early hours of Wednesday morning, hours after a massive rally in the city by his supporters protesting his arrest. He was then flown from the Serbian capital to Rotterdam airport.

The former Bosnian Serb leader was arrested last week after 13 years on the run.

Karadzic is expected to make an initial court appearance within the next few days, says the BBC. He will be charged and has the opportunity to make a plea immediately if he so wishes or can wait for 30 days to do so. He is expected to conduct his own defence.

The court case itself is not expected to start for a couple of months and it is hoped it will be concluded within two months says the BBC.

An appeal against Karadzic’s extradition which his lawyer claimed to have posted on Friday, has still not been received by the Serbian court, said the BBC.

Radovan Karadzic faces charges of genocide in connection with the Bosnian war in the early 1990s during which around 8,000 Bosnian Serbs were massacred at Srebenica. The UN enclave was under Dutch protection at the time.

Karadzic's extradition was a successful operation and opens a new chapter in world justice. Thiis also sends a signal to the Somali war lords who may be charged with genocide one day.

By yassin | July 30, 2008 11:13 AM

This is a joke, come on!! Lets start out on how this will really go. First he will spend yrs in trial, then have a heart attack or get sick in some special way.

The he will not be fit for trial, then he will be too old to stand trial or after yrs of infighting finally we will have a verdict..

Then he will be found guilty and spend maybe what's left of his life at that point in jail. But lets be very honest, a very very very POSH jail cell.

This guy will never be fully punished for the crimes he commited. There is a reason for the death penailty! This is one of them!

This guy is not worth the time and money spent on a trial. Everyone knows he is guilty, he even has admited it on occasions.

By DR | July 30, 2008 3:39 PM

If he feels like he is innocent of the charges and has nothing to hide then why has he been in hiding for the last 13 years?

By Geuzen76 | July 31, 2008 1:52 AM