Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Radovan Karadzic: Ex-Bosnian Serb leader to be sent to UK prison

Radovan Karadzic: Ex-Bosnian Serb leader to be sent to UK prison

Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader convicted of genocide during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, is to serve the rest of his life sentence in a British jail.

The Foreign Office said he would be transferred to a UK prison from a UN detention unit in the Netherlands.

Karadzic, 75, was also found guilty at his 2016 criminal tribunal of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

His original 40-year sentence was increased at an appeal hearing in 2019.

His conviction for genocide related to his responsibility for the murder of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995.

It was considered one of the worst massacres in Europe since World War Two.

Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia also held Karadzic responsible for the siege of Sarajevo, a campaign of shelling and sniping which lasted more than three years and led to the deaths of an estimated 10,000 civilians.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "Radovan Karadzic is one of the few people to have been found guilty of genocide...

"We should take pride in the fact that, from UK support to secure his arrest, to the prison cell he now faces, Britain has supported the 30-year pursuit of justice for these heinous crimes."

Mr Raab described Srebrenica as "the darkest moment in European history since the Holocaust".

"I think we have got a moral duty and I think we have a sense of national purpose in trying to hold to account the perpetrators of the very worst crimes," Mr Raab said.

"Back since Nuremburg [the trials of Nazi leaders in the German city after World War Two] we have played that role."

He added: "If we want to deter these kind of crimes from happening, if we want to give justice to the many thousands of victims, I think it is right we do our bit."

The UK was one of the signatories to enforcement agreements with the United Nations for sentences passed by its tribunals related to the former Yugoslavia.

UN officials confirmed they had asked the UK to "enforce the sentence".

They did not provide a date for the move but said "all necessary measures" should be taken "to facilitate Karadzic's transfer... as expeditiously as possible".

Radovan Karadzic, right, pictured with General Ratko Mladic in 1995

The conflict in the former Yugoslavia stemmed from tensions among ethnic groups, following the death of President Tito in 1980.

Calls for more autonomy led in 1991 to declarations of independence in Croatia and Slovenia and fighting with the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army.

Bosnia, with a complex mix of Serbs, Muslims and Croats, was next to try for independence. Bosnia's Serbs, backed by Serbs elsewhere in Yugoslavia, resisted.

Karadzic, a former psychiatrist, was president of the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War in the 1990s.

After the war, he hid for years - masquerading as an expert in alternative medicine - before his eventual arrest in Serbia in 2008.

In November 2017, former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic was sentenced to life in prison on similar charges of war crimes and genocide. A ruling in an appeal against his conviction is to be announced next month in The Hague.


Britain was involved in the hunt, trial and conviction of Radovan Karadzic. And now it is taking responsibility for enforcing the sentence handed down to him.

British intelligence played a role in his capture in Belgrade in 2008 after 13 years on the run. British judges and lawyers were involved in the trial against him at a United Nations tribunal that the UK helped to set up.

One of the young lawyers who drafted the legal procedure to transfer Karadzic to the UK was a certain Dominic Raab, who is now the Foreign Secretary - and who ultimately agreed to the request from the UN that the former Bosnian Serb leader should serve out his term in a British jail.

Officials say the reason the UK agreed is because it is on the list of UN members willing to detain those found guilty of global crimes, and it wished to show its continued support for the international rules-based order.

The UK will bear the costs of Karadzic's detention but any decision about whether he is released before his death would be a matter for the UN authorities in The Hague.

Karadzic will not be the first foreign national convicted of war crimes to have been held in a UK prison.

Five men convicted of war crimes by the tribunals for the former Yugoslavia have been sent to British high-security prisons in the past.

They included former Bosnian-Serb general Radislav Krstic, who was stabbed by three Muslim prisoners at Wakefield jail in 2010 in apparent retaliation for Srebrenica.

Krstic was moved to a prison in Poland in 2014.

The UK had also offered to jail the former President of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, when he was on trial in The Hague on charges of war crimes and genocide. But he died in 2006 before the legal proceedings were completed.

In a separate arrangement, ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor is serving a 50-year war sentence in the UK following a war crimes conviction by a UN-backed special court, for aiding rebels who committed atrocities in Sierra Leone during its civil war.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
×