| Press Release |
CHAMBERS
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| (Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document) |
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The Hague, 14 October 2002
JL/P.I.S/703-e
Amended Indictment against Radovan Karadzic Unsealed
On 11 October 2002, following a request from the Office of the Prosecutor, Duty Judge Gunawardana issued an "Order to Lift the Seal of Confidentiality of the Amended Indictment, Arrest Warrants, and Non-Disclosure Order", with regard to an Amended Indictment against Radovan Karadzic that was confirmed on 31 May 2000 by Judge Patricia Wald, but kept under seal.
BACKGROUND
On 18 May 2000 the Prosecutor filed her "Motion for Leave to File an Amended Indictment; Confirmation of the Amended Indictment; An Order in Terms of Rule 53 (B)", which sought leave to amend two outstanding Indictments against Radovan Karadzic and submitted one, new consolidated Indictment, asking for confirmation of that Amended Indictment. These submissions were assigned to Judge Wald for consideration.
The first Indictment against Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic was originally filed on 24 July 1995 and was confirmed by Judge Jorda on 25 July 1995. The sixteen-count Indictment charged the Accused with:
One count of genocide. Three counts of crimes against humanity, including persecution on political, racial and religious grounds and the sniping campaign against the civilian population of Sarajevo. Five counts of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including the unlawful confinement of civilians in detention facilities, the extensive destruction of property, the appropriation and plunder of property and the unlawful taking of United Nations peacekeepers as hostages and using them as human shields.
Seven counts of violations of the laws and customs of war, including the unlawful confinement of civilians, shelling civilian gatherings, destruction of sacred sites, appropriation and plunder of property, sniping at civilians in Sarajevo and the unlawful taking of United Nations peacekeepers as hostages and using them as human shields.
The second Indictment was originally filed on 14 November 1995 and was confirmed by Judge Riad on 16 November 1995. This twenty-count Indictment charged the Accused with:
One count of genocide. Ten counts of crimes against humanity, including extermination and murder. Nine counts of violations of the laws and customs of war, namely murder.
The Prosecutor's Amended Indictment, filed on 18 May 2000, consolidated the first and second Indictments and reduced the total number of charges, leaving only the most serious counts. In the Prosecutor's view, these amendments were more in keeping with the current charging practices of the Office of the Prosecutor and reflected the evolving jurisprudence of the Tribunal. Moreover, the Prosecutor believed the amended Indictment would allow her office to move more quickly to trial if Radovan Karadzic was arrested and facilitated joinder of his case with other Indictments against the Bosnian Serb political leadership.
The amended Indictment charges Radovan Karadzic under Articles 7(1) and 7(3) with:
One count of genocide. One count of complicity in genocide. Five counts of crimes against humanity, including extermination, murder, persecution on political, racial and religious grounds, deportation and other inhumane acts. Three counts of violations of the laws or customs of war, including murder, unlawfully inflicting terror upon civilians, taking of hostages. One count of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, wilful killing.
In her "Order Granting Leave to Amend the Indictment and Confirming the Amended Indictment", of 31 May 2000, Judge Wald agreed that 'the consolidated amended Indictment will expedite the proceedings, should Radovan Karadzic be arrested' and therefore granted the Prosecutor's request for leave to amend the Indictment.
Judge Wald confirmed the amended Indictment in respect of each and every count therein and noted that the Prosecutor had not sought leave to amend the first and second Indictments against the co-indictee, Ratko Mladic, and that until such leave is sought, the Indictments against him remain in place in their original, unamended form.
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The full text of the Amended Indictment is available upon request from the
Public Information Services of the ICTY. It is also available on the ICTY Internet site: www.un.org/icty
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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