War crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic arrested in Serbia
War crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic has been arrested in Serbia after 13 years on the run.
The Bosnian Serb wartime leader, one of the world?s most wanted men, was taken into custody by the Serbian security services, Serbian President Boris Tadic?s office said in a statement.
?Karadzic was located and arrested,? the statement said. He was detained and taken to see judges of the war crimes court.
Karadzic is twice indicted for genocide for the 43-month siege of Sarajevo which claimed 12,000 lives and for orchestrating the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War Two.
Many nationalist Serbs still regard Karadzic and and his former military chief, Ratko Mladic, as heroes but Serbia has been under heavy pressure from the European Union to turn over suspects to the international tribunal.
If Karadzic is extradited, he would be the 44th Serb suspect extradited to the tribunal. The others include former President Slobodan Milosevic, who was ousted in 2000 and died in 2006 while on trial on war crimes charges.
?I was informed by our colleagues in Belgrade about the successful operation which resulted in the arrest of Radovan Karadzic,? the tribunal?s head prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, said.
?I would like to congratulate the Serbian authorities on achieving this milestone.
?This is a very important day for the victims who have waited for this arrest for over a decade. It is also an important day for international justice because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law and that sooner or later all fugitives will be brought to justice.?
The first indictment against Karadzic was confirmed on 24 July 1995.
Karadzic, the former President of the Serb Republic, head of the Serbian Democratic Party and Supreme Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, is charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, extermination, murder, wilful killing, persecutions, deportation, inhumane acts, and other crimes committed against Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat and other non-Serb civilians in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1992-1995 war.
His indictment alleges that he, acting together with others, committed the crimes to secure control of areas of Bosnia which had been proclaimed part of the ?Serbian Republic; and significantly reducing its non-Serb population.
On Saturday, Serb authorities turned over an ex-Bosnian Serb police chief, Stojan Zupljanin, who was arrested in the town of Pancevo last week after nine years on the run.
A Belgrade court on Friday rejected his appeal against extradition and Zupljanin pleaded innocent Monday to 12 charges of murder, torture and persecution of Bosnian Muslims and Croats in 1992.
Zupljanin was charged with war crimes for allegedly overseeing Serb-run prison camps where thousands of Muslims and Croats were killed during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia.
