Appeal Judgement in the case of Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadžić to be rendered on 20 March 2019

The Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (“Mechanism”) has scheduled the pronouncement of the Appeal Judgement in the case of Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadžić for Wednesday, 20 March 2019 at 2 p.m. in Courtroom I of the Mechanism’s Hague branch.

The accreditation procedure for media representatives wishing to attend the Mechanism for the pronouncement of the Judgement will be announced on Monday, 4 March 2019.

Case background

Radovan Karadžić was charged 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.

On 24 March 2016, Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (“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.

The Trial Chamber found that Karadžić committed these crimes through his participation in four joint criminal enterprises (“JCE”s): (i) the JCE to permanently remove Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from Bosnian Serb-claimed territory through the commission of crimes in municipalities throughout BiH; (ii) the JCE to spread terror among the civilian population of Sarajevo through a campaign of sniping and shelling; (iii) 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 (iv) the JCE to eliminate the Bosnian Muslims from Srebrenica in July 1995.

The Trial Chamber sentenced Karadžić to 40 years of imprisonment.

Following the rendering of the Trial Judgement, and in accordance with the Article 2 of the Mechanism’s Transitional Arrangements, the Mechanism assumed jurisdiction for the appeals proceedings in the Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadžić case. Both Karadžić and the Prosecution appealed the Trial Judgement, filing their respective notices of appeal on 22 July 2016, their appeal briefs on 5 December 2016, their response briefs on 15 March 2017, and their reply briefs on 6 April 2017.  The appeal hearing took place on 23 and 24 April 2018 at the Mechanism's Hague branch.

The initial indictment against Karadžić was confirmed on 25 July 1995. He was arrested in Serbia on 21 July 2008, and transferred to the ICTY on 30 July 2008. The trial commenced on 26 October 2009 and 586 in-court testimonies were heard by the Trial Chamber.