Karadzic trial: proud Serb defiance vs. victims' stories

It is here where victims and other witnesses will testify to what they heard Karadzic say and the atrocities that they experienced thereafter. In the eyes of lead prosecutor on the case, Californian Alan Tieger, there is more than ample evidence to tie Karadzic’s words to the brutality carried out on the ground. Mr. Tieger has pointed to the charged parliamentary session of October 1991, where Karadzic presented this threat to the non-Serbs in the room: “The road you have taken will lead you straight to hell. And in that hell, the Muslim nation [of Bosnia] may ultimately disappear.” The ethnic cleansing that took hundreds of thousands of lives began less than four months later.

Only by proving this type of link will Tieger and his team earn a conviction. In the view of David Scheffer, a professor of law at Northwestern University and former US ambassador at large for war crimes issues, “Proving, with incriminating statements and instructions, that Karadzic masterminded the assault on Srebrenica will be the critical first step to linking him to the genocide that stole so many lives in the aftermath.” 

Karadzic will try to distance himself from those who carried out the orders on the ground. So far, Karadzic – who has chosen to represent himself – has been impressive in the courtroom. He has insisted that he was not given enough time to prepare his case. After refusing to appear for Tieger’s opening statement of Oct. 27 and Nov. 2, 2009, Karadzic’s insistence paid off. The court, caught between reversing its initial decision not to grant Karadzic more time, and jeopardizing the trial’s legitimacy by proceeding in his absence, delayed the trial until March 1 and assigned “stand-by counsel” to step in if Karadzic refused to appear. 

Although the facts that face Karadzic are formidable, we should expect his defense to be formidable in turn. It will be the prosecution’s job to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Karadzic was responsible for the atrocities that stole the lives of thousands, scarred the lives of thousands more, and scoffed at an international community too slow to respond.

Whether this trial will bring justice could be a question without an answer. After all, what is justice to some may be injustice to others. But this trial will give the victims a chance to tell their story. And in the coming days, the world should listen.

Kyle Richard Olson is an attorney at Baker & McKenzie in Chicago. He worked for the office of the prosecutor at the ICTY in The Hague in 2009.

---

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Previous

1 | 2