Karadzic: Buying Time

War crime victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina see the postponement of the Radovan Karadzic trial, due to his failure to appear in court, as playing with the feelings of the survivors and as his way of "buying time" and presenting himself as "a martyr".

We think that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, has mechanisms to ensure an efficient trial even in case he fails to appear in the courtroom. The whole process will probably be deficient and it will not have the effect we expect the trial of the century, and the most important one conducted before the ICTY, to have," says Edin Ramulic of the Izvor Association of Prijedor women.

The former president of Republika Srpska faces charges before the ICTY of genocide, crimes against humanity and the violation of laws and practices of warfare, committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995.

Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade on July 21, 2008, after having been on the run for years.

The beginning of his trial was scheduled for October 26, but it has now been postponed until October 27 because he failed to appear in the courtroom.

Last week, Karadzic informed the ICTY Trial Chamber that he did not intend to turn up on Monday because he "is not ready for the trial".

"After he had said he would not appear in the courtroom, I knew some chicanery was coming, because they always play some games and get away with it. [...] I have the feeling that there is no justice for us, victims, at all. Believe me when I say that this is very hard for us. We feel as if they are committing the crime against us again, but this time it is even more horrible, because it is the world that is committing it," says Nisveta Zametica, president of Zene Kasindolske 92 ("The Women of Kasindolska Street, 1992") Association.

"It is obvious that this is an attempt to buy some more time, while waiting for the UN, to reconsider the existence of the Tribunal and its future work. What is the only option left to Karadzic? His only option is to create the image of a martyr and be remembered by the Serbian people as the victim of a conspiracy by the international community," Ramulic says.

Saja Coric, a former detainee in Vojno detention camp, near Mostar, believes that all war crimes victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been hurt by Karadzic's failure to appear for the beginning of the trial.

"It is sad that even today, in 2009, the international community plays on the feelings of Bosnian victims. At this moment, this refers not only to the women of Srebrenica, but also to other victims," Coric considers.

Karadzic is not the person charged by the ICTY to refuse to appear in court in an attempt to delay the beginning of their trial. In November 2006, Vojislav Seselj, the former president of the Serbian Radical Party of the Republic of Serbian and Montenegro, refused to leave his prison cell when his trial was scheduled to commence.

Seselj, who is charged with crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia, has subsequently appeared at his trial, which began in November 2007 and is still underway. Jovica Stanisic, the former chief of the State Safety Service and Internal Affairs Ministry of the Republic of Serbia, also boycotted the beginning of his trial, claiming he was severely ill. The trial was due to begin in March 2008. The trial of Stanisic, who is charged with alleged crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, began in June 2009.

Karadzic has also refused to appoint a defence attorney. Because of this, the Prosecution has asked the Tribunal to appoint an ex-officio lawyer to represent him. This would enable the trial to be conducted in a normal way.