No Cuts to Karadzic Charge List

Judges in the case of former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic have restricted the number of hours for prosecutors to present their case after failing to have the charge list reduced.



But the trial - currently scheduled for 21 October - may still be delayed if appeal judges fail to rule on Karadzic’s appeal for more time to prepare his defence.



The trial judges have repeatedly concerned over the scope of the case against Karadzic, alleged to have been the political force behind the greatest atrocities of the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia.



But while pre-trial judge O-Gon Kwon expressed frustration at the prosecution’s determined stance to make only certain cuts to charges at a Hague tribunal court hearing this week, he did not use the powers at his disposal to order the further streamlining of the indictment.



"Without yet having a detailed understanding of the prosecution's case or evidence, in the absence of assistance from the prosecution, it is extremely difficult for the chamber to select municipalities or crime sites for removal," Judge Kwon said.



Judges first asked the prosecution to consider reducing the extent of the charges against the accused on July 22. On August 31, the prosecution said that if required to do so by judges, it could remove crimes relating to ten of the 27 Bosnian municipalities contained in the current charge sheet, which was drafted on February 27 this year.



The judges then made a call for further cuts and said the number of municipalities covered by the indictment should not exceed 12 in total.



But prosecutors submitted a written response on September 18 explaining that they could not cut out further municipalities or reduce the number of crime sites further, as doing so “would have an adverse impact on the prosecution’s ability to fairly present its case”.



“Despite the efforts of the chamber to encourage the prosecution to identify further crime sites and incidents that might be omitted from the scope of this trial, the prosecution has disappointingly chosen not to do so,” Judge Kwon told the parties in court.



“The chamber remains gravely concerned about the scope of the prosecution’s case,” he added.



Karadzic is charged with responsibility for the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica, the 44-month siege of the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo and genocide against Bosniaks Muslims and Bosnian Croats across large swathes of Bosnia. The defendant will stand trial for genocide and war crimes and crimes against humanity, including persecution, extermination, murder and deportation committed between 1992 and 1995.



In order to curb the length of the trial, the judges this week placed a limit on the time the prosecution will have to present its case.



Prosecutors will now have a total of 300 hours to examine and re-examine its witnesses, Judge Kwon informed the team headed by Alan Teiger and Hildegard Uertz-Retzlaff.



“The prosecution should be able to finish its case within this time limit and should not exceed it in any event,” the judge told them.



Judge Kwon then ordered the prosecution to file an updated version of the indictment with the proposed reductions of crime sites and municipalities marked out by October 19.



The prosecution will cut a number of witnesses and strike out crimes committed in the municipalities of Banja Luka, Bosanska Krupa, Bosanski Petrovac, Brcko, Cajnice, Donji Vakuf, Kalinovik, Kotor Varos, Ilijas and Visegrad.



The trial is now scheduled to start on October 21, two days later than was announced last month.



However, proceedings cannot begin until appeal judges have ruled on Karadzic’s petition against a decision by trial judges not to grant a request from him for the trial to be delayed.



Karadzic, who has repeatedly claimed that he has not had enough time to prepare his defence, had asked trial judges to postpone the trial for 10 months.



“This commencement date goes beyond any reasonable possibility for me to be prepared regarding my submission and appeal,” Karadzic told judges this week, referring to the October 21 start date.



Judge Kwon said that if appeals judges had not made their decision on Karadzic’s request by October 14, then the start date of the trial would be postponed again.



Parties also discussed this week how Karadzic will conduct his defence, following a request from the defendant to have his legal adviser Peter Robinson present in court and empowered to make submissions to the judges on all legal, as opposed to factual, issues that arise.



Karadzic has refused his right to be represented by a lawyer at trial, insisting on running his own case. However, he employs Robinson as well as several legal associates to support him. Karadzic also wants these associates to be present in the courtroom.



Karadzic argued that having Robinson present in the courtroom would allow him to consult him on legal matters without interrupting the trial.



Judge Kwon put it to the defendant that this proposed procedure amounted to Karadzic being represented by a lawyer on legal issues in the case.



“This will not be any kind of representation, this is going to be assistance,” Karadzic said.



“There is no question of representation. I am representing myself,” he reiterated later.



Karadzic agreed with Judge Kwon when the latter described the procedure envisaged by Karadzic as a “division of work”, but with the defendant maintaining overall control of his case.



While the prosecution was supportive of Karadzic’s bid to have his legal team present in court during the trial, it opposed anyone apart from the defendant being able to make submissions to judges.



It argued that if Karadzic could not represent himself fully, then he should appoint a lawyer to conduct his defence.



“If the accused wants to be advised on legal issues and if he thinks he is not experienced enough to address the court on legal and factual issues then he should, in fact, elect to be represented by counsel,” Uertz-Retzlaff told judges.



Uertz-Retzlaff also argued that the line between factual and legal matters would not always be distinct and that the defendant’s requested procedure would lead to delays.



“Granting his request would hinder the efficient and expeditious conduct of proceedings,” she said.



Karadzic pointed out that the prosecution team consisted of several individuals who were all allowed to speak to the judges, and added that there would be “a legal benefit” in allowing Robinson to make submissions on his behalf.



“It will be easier for the chamber if Mr Robinson were to verbalise what he would say to me and it will be less precise and less clear if I were to articulate that,” he argued.



Judge Kwon indicated that a decision on the matter would be reached soon.



The next time the parties meet will be for the beginning of the trial itself.



Simon Jennings is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.