KARADŽIĆ, Radovan (MICT-13-55-ES)
Completed
On 12 May 1992, Radovan Karadžić was elected as the President of the Presidency of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 17 December 1992, he was the sole President of Republika Srpska and the Supreme Commander of the armed forces of Republika Srpska.
Sentenced by an ICTY Trial Chamber to 40 years' imprisonment on 24 March 2016.
On 22 July 2016, both parties filed their notices of appeal.
The appeal hearing in the case took place on 23 and 24 April 2018 at the Mechanism's Hague branch.
Recent developments: On 20th of March 2019, The Appeals Chamber, Judges de Prada and Rosa dissenting, set aside the sentence of 40 years of imprisonment and imposed on Mr. Karadžić a sentence of life imprisonment.
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Indictment |
Initial indictment filed on 24 July 1995. Operational indictment filed on 19 October 2009. |
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Arrest |
Arrested on 21 July 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia. Transferred to the ICTY on 30 July 2008. |
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ICTY Trial Chamber Judgement |
Delivered on 24 March 2016. The Trial Chamber found Radovan Karadžić guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war. Karadžić was sentenced to 40 years of imprisonment. |
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Mechanism Appeals Chamber |
Judge Vagn Prüsse Joensen, (Presiding) Judge William Hussein Sekule Judge José Ricardo de Prada Solaesa Judge Graciela Susana Gatti Santana Judge Ivo Nelson de Caires Batista Rosa |
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Status of the Case |
Completed. |
Appeals Proceedings (Completed)
On 4 April 2016, Radovan Karadžić announced his intention to appeal the ICTY Trial Judgement and requested an extension of the deadline to file the notice of appeal. On 22 July 2016, both parties filed their notices of appeal. The Appeals Chamber partially granted requests from the parties for extensions of time for the briefing process, amounting to a total of 217 days of extensions.
The Prosecution and Karadžić filed their respective appeal briefs on 5 December 2016, their response briefs on 15 March 2017, and their reply briefs on 6 April 2017.
The appeal hearing in the case took place on 23 and 24 April 2018 at the Mechanism's Hague branch.
On 25 September 2018, Karadžić filed a request to disqualify Judge Meron from the case. On 27 September 2018, Judge Meron withdrew from the Karadžid case in the interests of justice, and assigned Judge Ivo Nelson de Caires Batista Rosa to replace him.
On 20 March 2019, the Appeals Chamber rendered the Appeal Judgement. The Appeals Chamber reversed, in part, Judges Joensen and de Prada dissenting, Karadžić’s convictions related to his involvement in a joint criminal enterprise (“JCE”) known as the “Overarching JCE“, to the extent that they were based on certain incidents listed in the Appendix to the Indictment.
The Appeals Chamber unanimously dismissed all other aspects of Karadžić’s appeal and affirmed his remaining convictions pursuant to Articles 7(1) and 7(3) of the ICTY Statute for genocide, persecution, extermination, murder, deportation, and other inhumane acts (forcible transfer) as crimes against humanity, as well as for murder, terror, unlawful attacks on civilians, and hostage-taking as violations of the laws or customs of war, in relation to his participation in four JCEs: (i) the “Overarching JCE“ with a common plan to permanently remove Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from Bosnian Serb-claimed territory through the commission of crimes in municipalities throughout BiH; (ii) the “Sarajevo JCE” aimed at spreading terror among the civilian population of Sarajevo through a campaign of sniping and shelling; (iii) the “Hostages JCE” with the common purpose of taking UN personnel hostage in order to compel NATO to abstain from conducting air strikes against Bosnian Serb targets; and (iv) the “Srebrenica JCE” to eliminate the Bosnian Muslims from Srebrenica in July 1995.
The Appeals Chamber granted the Prosecution’s sentencing appeal and found, Judges de Prada and Rosa dissenting, that the Trial Chamber committed a discernible error and abused its discretion in imposing a sentence of only 40 years of imprisonment.
The Appeals Chamber, Judges de Prada and Rosa dissenting, set aside the sentence of 40 years of imprisonment and imposed a
sentence of life imprisonment.
Case Background Information
Indictment
Radovan Karadžić was charged before the ICTY with two counts of genocide, five counts of crimes against humanity and four counts of violations of the laws or customs of war committed by Serb forces during the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (“BiH”), from 1992 until 1995. Karadžić was alleged to be individually criminally responsible for those crimes, inter alia, through his participation in a number of joint criminal enterprises (“JCEs”).
Two counts of genocide (Counts 1 and 2)
Five counts of crimes against humanity
- Persecutions (Count 3)
- Extermination (Count 4)
- Murder (Count 5)
- Deportation (Count 7)
- Inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8)
Four counts of violations of the laws or customs of war
- Murder (Count 6)
- Terror (Count 9)
- Unlawful attacks on civilians (Count 10)
- Taking of hostages (Count 11)
ICTY Trial Chamber Judgement
On 24 March 2016, Trial Chamber III of the ICTY convicted Karadžić of genocide in the area of Srebrenica in 1995 and of persecution, extermination, murder, deportation, inhumane acts (forcible transfer), terror, unlawful attacks on civilians and hostage-taking. He was acquitted of the charge of genocide in other municipalities in BiH in 1992.
The Chamber found that Karadžić committed these crimes through his participation in four JCEs: the overarching JCE included a common plan to permanently remove Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from Bosnian Serb-claimed territory through the commission of crimes in municipalities throughout BiH; the JCE to establish and carry out a campaign of sniping and shelling against the civilian population of Sarajevo, aimed at spreading terror among the civilian citizens; the JCE with the common purpose of taking UN personnel hostage in order to compel NATO to abstain from conducting air strikes against Bosnian Serb targets; and the JCE to eliminate the Bosnian Muslims from Srebrenica in July 1995.
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Start of ICTY Trial |
26 October 2009 |
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Prosecution Case |
Started |
13 April 2010 |
Closed |
25 May 2012 |
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Defence Case* |
Started |
16 October 2012 |
Closed |
1 May 2014 |
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Closing Arguments |
Started |
29 September 2014 |
Closed |
7 October 2014 |
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ICTY Trial Chamber Judgement |
24 March 2016 |
Verdict |
40 years of imprisonment |
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* The accused elected to represent himself at the trial.
Statistics
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ICTY trial days |
499 |
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Total exhibits admitted at trial |
11,481 |
Prosecution |
6,671 |
Defence |
4,807 |
Chamber |
3 |
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Total witnesses called at trial |
586 |
Prosecution |
337 |
Defence |
248 |
Chamber |
1 |
Case information sheet349.88 KB