Radovan Karadzic denies Bosnia war crimes

[Gerald]

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has said he should be rewarded for "reducing suffering", not accused of carrying out war crimes.

Beginning his defence at his trial in The Hague, he said he was a "tolerant man" who had sought peace in Bosnia.

Mr Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade in 2008 after almost 13 years on the run.

He faces 10 charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the war in the 1990s, including the Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo.

More than 7,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys were killed at Srebrenica in the worst single atrocity in Europe since the end of World War II.

During the 44-month siege of Sarajevo more than 12,000 civilians died.

He should have his sentence.


Note: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19952899

[Betonov]

He should take the cowards way out like Millosevich and do the world a favour

[Jimbuna]

He should take the cowards way out like Millosevich and do the world a favour

Agreed :yep:

[soopaman2]

At least Hitler had the balls to commit suicide. He knew he was scum, and never denied what he did.

This coward...
I think this is one man we can all agree upon internationally, who deserves the same cruel and unusual punishment he meted out.

I vote for having his limbs tied to 4 horses, and being pulled apart.

[CCIP]

On the other hand, I feel like the Hague tribunal has not done sufficient to pursue all sides of the conflict, even where evidence of war crimes from the other side exists. I don't doubt for a second that Milosevic, Karadzic, and Mladic were scum who deserve punishment for their crimes - but I also can't argue with them when they point the finger back and say that this is a case of victor's justice that practically turns a blind eye to one side of the story. IMO, that just really negates the truth, justice and reconciliation that the court is supposed to stand for, and instead turns it into yet another case of revenge that does little to heal the ethnic hatred in the region that was the real culprit behind this violence (and possibly only increases that hate in the end).

[Cybermat47]

At least Hitler had the balls

umm, actually, he only had one!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_of_Adolf_Hitler

[Jimbuna]

On the other hand, I feel like the Hague tribunal has not done sufficient to pursue all sides of the conflict, even where evidence of war crimes from the other side exists. I don't doubt for a second that Milosevic, Karadzic, and Mladic were scum who deserve punishment for their crimes - but I also can't argue with them when they point the finger back and say that this is a case of victor's justice that practically turns a blind eye to one side of the story. IMO, that just really negates the truth, justice and reconciliation that the court is supposed to stand for, and instead turns it into yet another case of revenge that does little to heal the ethnic hatred in the region that was the real culprit behind this violence (and possibly only increases that hate in the end).

Good points but isn't 'victor's justice' consistent with what usually happens...even for the USA and UK et al.

[nikimcbee]

@ Betonov

Just curious about your experiences during the Balkan Confict. Where were you during all of this? Did it effect you at all?

[Betonov]

I was 5 years old during the 10 day war in Slovenia. After that all the fighting shifted towards Bosnia and Croatia.
No one in my fammily actually fought in the war. My mother was on constant standby as a hopital worker as they expected a flood of wounded and my father was held in reserve due to equipment shortage and was welding baricades during the conflict.
I only have a very faint memory sitting under our cherry tree (Vendor heard some much about) while Yugoslav jets were flying over, probibly on their way to support the troops near Karavanke tunnel (border crossing to Austria)

When the bloodshed really began I was only a kid. Saw the news, didn't make much of it.

Things changed for me in the last few years. I've met a lot of Bosnians and beame quite fond of them and the more I worked with these people, the more this war became personal for me.
I had a co-worker, from Bosnia, that had a stutter. And I later found out he had this stutter because of post travmatic stress syndrome. He survived Srebrenica. The only one in his fammily.

But I don't hold grudges against the Serbs. They didn't start this war. Power hungry maniacs like Milosevich and Karadzic started it. But the real question is, would the whole mess been prevented prevented if the main actors would get killed in a plane crash few years prior ?? Doubt it. The real question is, when is the next Balkan war going to start.

And the biggest irony of all for me, if Millosevich would die before 1991, half of Slovenia would be razed to the ground in 1991. But that's another story. How my country made a deal with the devil and didn't pay it's dues

[Hottentot]

At least Hitler had the balls to commit suicide. He knew he was scum, and never denied what he did.

That's an original interpretation if I've heard one lately.

[Edited to add just because]:

umm, actually, he only had one!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_of_Adolf_Hitler

Directly copied from that link, it says "In research following Hitler's death, a variety of claims have been made about his sexuality: that he was gay or bisexual, asexual, that he had only one testicle". Emphasis mine. There have also been claims that say it wasn't so, one of them being this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_of_Adolf_Hitler#cite_note-17).

Seeing that there was a song on the subject and it's Hitler we are talking about, I'd be a little more sceptical towards such claims.

[nikimcbee]

Thanks Betonov, interesting stuff. I had a co-worker friend who was with NATO there. He didn't have anything nice to say about all of the sides.

[Betonov]

Thanks Betonov, interesting stuff. I had a co-worker friend who was with NATO there. He didn't have anything nice to say about all of the sides.

Atrocities were commited by both sides. Enough war criminals to line one side of the road between Belgrade and Sarajevo with hanged Serb criminals and the other side with Bosnian.

but I also can't argue with them when they point the finger back and say that this is a case of victor's justice that practically turns a blind eye to one side of the story. ~ CCIP

That sums it up. Bosnian criminals used the suffering if their own people to victimise themselves and avoid persecution.