Bosnian Serb Hardliners 'Angry' at Arrest

Sarajevo _ Serbian Democratic Party members from Republika Srpska consider that the arrest of the former leader is shameful, adding that they do not believe that the Hague Tribunal is impartial.

The Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, which was led by Radovan Karadzic for many years, is surprised by his arrest. Its members do not believe that he will have a fair trial before the Hague Tribunal, which they consider as "an anti-Serbian court".

"We are surprised. The arrest of Radovan Karadzic comes as a consequence of the establishment of new government in Serbia. In general, we do not trust the Hague Tribunal. We consider that it does not bring justice, and, as proven so many times up to now, this is a political court," says Mladen Bosic, current SDS president.

After having been hiding for 13 years, Radovan Karadzic was arrested in the vicinity of Belgrade on July 21.

The Hague Tribunal indicted Karadzic for genocide, crime against humanity, violation of laws and practices of warfare committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, when he was president of Republika Srpska and supreme commander of its armed forces.

He was the president of Republika Srpska from December 1992 to July 1996. He was nominated to this position by the SDS, whose president he was since 1990, when the party was formed, following democratic changes and constitutional reforms in Bosnia.

Besides those who share Karadzic's political ideas, members of the Serbian Radical Party of Republika Srpska and members of "Vojislav Seselj's" Radical Party are disappointed by the arrest. Milanko Mihajlica, President of the Serbian Radical Party, told reporters that Karadzic's arrest represents "the biggest Serbian dishonor, misery and orchestrated historical deception".

"The fact that Radovan Karadzic will be extradited to the Hague Tribunal, which acquitted Ramush Haradinaj and Naser Oric of all charges, basically indicates that Karadzic will not be extradited to a court of justice, but rather to an anti-Serbian court, which will do whatever Haris Silajdzic or Sulejman Tihic ask it to do. It will try Radovan Karadzic's creations, and Republika Srpska is one of them," Mihajlica said.

Haris Silajdzic is President of the Bosnian Presidency, while Sulejman Tihic is President of the Party for Democratic Action and former member of the Bosnian State Presidency. Silajdzic and Tihic welcomed Karadzic's arrest, saying that it meant "justice to the victims and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina."

Mirko Blagojevic, President of "Vojislav Seselj's" Serbian Radical Party, says that he was "very upset" when he heard about the arrest of Radovan Karadzic, adding that he tried to hide "tears from his family".

"I was up all night. This is very hard. One should not be ashamed of crying about a man like Radovan Karadzic, who will be handed over to a political, anti-Serbian court," Blagojevic told Justice Report.
Blagojevic adding that the ICTY indictee Karadzic is innocent, adding that everybody was innocent until proven otherwise. He said that someone's innocence could be proven during the course of a normal criminal proceeding, but this could not be done before a criminal court like the Hague Tribunal.

"I must say that I am unhappy. Those who feel happy today, do not have any reasons for that. Karadzic did so many things to preserve peace in Bosnia and to save the Serbian people, whose leader he once was," Blagojevic said, adding that he "stands ready to help the Karadzic family in any way and to support Radovan's legal Defence at the Hague Tribunal".

Karadzic was one of the founders of a separate Serbian Assembly in Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 21, 1991. The Assembly claimed to have represented the Serbian people in Bosnia. At that time several "Serbian autonomous regions" were formed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In November 1991 a referendum was convened, at which majority of Bosnian Serbs voted for "remaining in a joint state, together with Serbia and Montenegro".

On January 9, 1992 the Bosnian Serbs Assembly, controlled by the SDS, declared "The Republic of the Serbian People in Bosnia and Herzegovina". On February 28, 1992 a constitution was passed, proclaiming that the Republic would comprise the Serbian Autonomous Regions, municipalities and other Serbian ethnic entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it would remain in the Yugoslav Federation.

Most Bosnian Serbs decided to boycott the independence referendum, organised by the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A short time after that, on May 13, 1992, Karadzic became the first president of Bosnian Serbs, based in Pale, a town near Sarajevo, in which the Karadzic family still lives.

This report was compiled by BIRN’s Justice Report. Visit the Justice Report website here: http://www.bim.ba/en/125/10/