The issue of national identity is taken seriously by Balkan people – including the least serious among them.
Karadzic Demands Documents from Bosnia
| 02 February 2010 | Nidzara Ahmetasevic
“I am the former president of the Bosnian Serb Republic. I am presently preparing my defense to charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.”
So begins almost every letter Radovan Karadzic has written to different states (more than 30) and organizations asking for documents for his defence. Since he was arrested in July 2008 Karadzic has asked for hundreds of documents from countries such as Bangladesh, Jordan, Egypt, Malaysia, Turkey, Malta but also the US, the UK, Italy, Austria, Germany, as well as NATO, the EU and the UN.
Karadzic, who complained previously that the prosecution intended to turn the trial “into a paper trail”, has asked for hundreds of documents.
He estimates he has so far received about five per cent of the documents he requested, and that he needs to be given more time in order to be sent all the information he asked for.
Some of the countries handed him documents voluntarily, like Russia and Canada. Some, like Germany, objected to giving the documents.
Bosnia and Herzegovina handed over part of what Karadzic asked for.
The indictee wants to have documents from Bosnia that are related to the existence of the unit "Seva", described by some as a secret parapolice unit. Seva operated during the war in the territory controlled by government in Sarajevo.
Media reports from the second half of the 90s claim that the existence of the Seva unit was the subject of an ICTY investigation in connection to the murders of mostly non-Bosniaks committed during the war in Sarajevo.
Karadzic asked for documents on Nedjad Herenda, a member of Seva and, according to some reports, the leader of the group. He also asked for documents concerning Nedzad Ugljen, a member of an intelligence unit in Sarajevo who was killed in 1996, and Edin Garaplija, also a former member of the intelligence unit.
He also wants access to reports on investigations “done by civilian judiciary, or military personnel” on these three individuals and the Seva unit.
Seva activities, as well as those of Ugljen, Herenda and Garaplija, have been the subject of different investigations for more than a decade and are consistently under the media spotlight in Bosnia.
The Trial Chamber decided to organise a status conference on February 15 and invited seven countries to send their representatives to talk about the requested documents. Representatives from Bosnia, Germany, France, Croatia, Italy, Iran and the Netherlands should appear in the courtroom.
Karadzic asked the Chamber to also invite officials from the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia, OHR. According to the indictee, the OHR can make the Bosnian government hand over what he is requesting, but it appears the Chamber has denied this request.
Karadzic also asked Bosnia to hand over “all of BiH federal judicial (court) decisions regarding all missing people and people declared to be dead” from January 1992 to December 1995.
He also asks for all death certificates for the municipalities of Srebrenica, Bratunac, Vlasenica, Zvornik, Visegrad, Kladanj and Olovo.
Previously, in July 2009, Karadzic announced that he was planning to prove that Srebrenica was a myth and that the number of people killed was not more than a few hundred.
The prosecution has charged Karadzic with genocide in Srebrenica, where about 8,000 people were killed in July 1995.
At the same time, Karadzic considers as relevant for his defence copies of “any list of all soldiers killed for whom gravestones were made by two municipalities’ funeral companies – Gradska Groblja Visoko and Sokolica, Tuzla”.
Documents which Karadzic has requested from Croatia are mostly related to meetings between US and Croatian officials in 1994. He wants to have notes from meetings where, he believes, officials discussed the transfer of arms and ammunition from Iran, via Croatia, with the approval of the US.
He asked for similar documents from Iran, and in most of their correspondence Iranian officials asked for more time in order to search for these documents.
Karadzic said that he believes that Iran possesses documents proving "violations of (UN) Security Council resolutions... that kept the war going and put off a political solution".
He had asked for related documents from the US government, but most of his requests were not met.
During the status conference on January 28, Karadzic said that he believed that France also had important documents.
"I am convinced France has crucial documents and knowledge about the essence of the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina."
Karadzic on Monday filed a motion seeking a further postponement of his trial, which opened in his absence in October.
He insists on conducting his own defence and claims that he has not been given enough time to prepare.
