The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today rendered its judgement in the case of Radovan Karadži?. Karadži? has been found guilty on one count of genocide, five counts of crimes against humanity and four counts of violations of the laws or customs of war. Karadži? has been acquitted on one count of genocide. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Following the judgment, the Foreign Secretary said:
This landmark case concerns one of the darkest chapters in the post-war history of our continent. Although it cannot erase the suffering of the many thousands of victims and their families, this verdict sends a powerful message that perpetrators of atrocities will be held accountable for their actions.
Karadži?’s conviction, at the biggest war crime trial in Europe since Nuremberg, demonstrates that no one can escape justice.
Further information
The 2008 arrest of the former Bosnian Serb leader came after he spent nearly 13 years on the run. He was eventually found in Belgrade in July 2008. He was arrested and handed over to the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. Following his failure to plead, a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf on 3 March 2009. The first witness in the trial was heard on 13 April 2010 and closing arguments finished on 7 October 2014. His trial was the biggest war crimes trial in Europe since Nuremberg and the judgment demonstrates the amount of evidence the Tribunal had to consider and the complexity of the case.
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