The verdict will be the culmination of Krajisnik’s marathon trial, which began in February 2004 and included testimony from 124 witnesses.
The prosecution alleges that Krajisnik, along with other Bosnian Serb leaders, was responsible for the persecution of Bosnian Muslims and Croats in Serb-controlled areas at the beginning of the 1992-95 Bosnian conflict. They say this included “forcible elimination” of non-Serbs from large parts of the country, and “widespread killings”, which amounted to genocide.
Krajisnik, a close associate of the former Bosnian Serb president and the tribunal’s top fugitive Radovan Karadzic, is considered to have been one of the most influential Bosnian Serbs political figures during the war. He was one of the founders of the Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, in Bosnia and was speaker of the Bosnian Serb parliament.
In his closing arguments at the end of August, prosecutor Alan Tieger called for Krajisnik to be sentenced to life if convicted, while Nicholas Stewart, his defence counsel, called for his acquittal.
Krajisnik, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, claimed in a heartfelt speech at the end of his trial, “I am calm, because I can state with a clean conscience before God and court that I do not feel guilty.”
The prosecution alleges that Krajisnik, along with other Bosnian Serb leaders, was responsible for the persecution of Bosnian Muslims and Croats in Serb-controlled areas at the beginning of the 1992-95 Bosnian conflict. They say this included “forcible elimination” of non-Serbs from large parts of the country, and “widespread killings”, which amounted to genocide.
Krajisnik, a close associate of the former Bosnian Serb president and the tribunal’s top fugitive Radovan Karadzic, is considered to have been one of the most influential Bosnian Serbs political figures during the war. He was one of the founders of the Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, in Bosnia and was speaker of the Bosnian Serb parliament.
In his closing arguments at the end of August, prosecutor Alan Tieger called for Krajisnik to be sentenced to life if convicted, while Nicholas Stewart, his defence counsel, called for his acquittal.
Krajisnik, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, claimed in a heartfelt speech at the end of his trial, “I am calm, because I can state with a clean conscience before God and court that I do not feel guilty.”
