The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Thursday unanimously reversed Radovan Karadzic’s acquittal for genocide in the municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was entered at the close of the Prosecution case. The Appeals Chamber remanded the matter to the Trial Chamber for further action consistent with the Appeal Judgement.
At a hearing on 28 June 2012, the Trial Chamber upheld most of the charges against Karadzic but entered a judgement of acquittal in relation to Count 1 of the Indictment, which alleges that Karadzic was responsible for genocide through his participation in a joint criminal enterprise (JCE) that aimed to permanently remove Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 31 March 1992 and 31 December 1992. The Trial Chamber found in this regard that there was “no evidence, even taken at its highest, which could be capable of supporting a conviction for genocide in the municipalities as charged under Article 4(3) of the Statute”.
The Appeals Chamber underscored that its judgement did not assess the credibility of the evidence against Karadzic, the ICTY reported.
Karadzic was the former President of Republika Srpska, head of the Serb Democratic Party, and Supreme Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army. He is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws or customs of war for acts allegedly committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Karadžić was transferred to the Tribunal’s custody on 30 July 2008.
