Radovan Karadzic, the wartime leader of the Bosnian Serbs and one of the most wanted men in the world, was arrested Monday after a 13-year manhunt.
Karadzic is accused of planning massive civilian massacres, described by the United Nations war crimes tribunal as "scenes from hell, written on the darkest pages of human history."
He was taken into custody in Serbia, according to Serbian President Boris Tadic. Heavily-armed soldiers surrounded the Belgrade court where Karadzic is currently being kept, while dozens of angry supporters gathered outside.
Local newspapers claimed Karadzic used elaborate disguises to evade authorities, and spent the past decade hiding in mountain caves and monasteries in eastern Bosnia.
This arrest is a "long, overdue victory" for the international community, foreign affairs analyst Eric Margolis told 愛污传媒net in a phone interview from New York on Monday evening.
"It's been a huge humiliation -- a disgrace to the international community -- that the leading war criminal in the world has not been arrested until now," he added.
Karadzic's arrest and trial at The Hague is a major condition for Serbia's European Union membership. However, it's unclear whether he will be transferred to The Hague, or put on trial for war crimes in Belgrade.
Margolis suggested the Serbian government may have actually helped hide Karadzic, although that allegation has never been proven.
"The UN criminal court in The Hague has been demanding that Serbia stop sheltering these criminals and hand them over to justice," he said. "Serbia has refused to do so. But Serbia is now in terrible economic shape and the EU has been holding out the carrot of fuller integration with the EU -- and financial aid -- in exchange of handing over these criminals.
NATO-led peacekeepers had been ordered to arrest Karadzic on site. In July 2005, his wife, Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic, publicly urged him to surrender "for the sake of your family." A week later, his son said anyone responsible for war crimes should face justice, "even if it is my own father."
The UN war crimes tribunal has charged Karadzic with 15 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The charges include:
- Six counts of genocide and complicity in genocide (in Srebrenica and elsewhere in Bosnia)
- Two counts of crimes against humanity
- One count of violations of the laws or customs of war
- One count of a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions governing wartime conduct
- One count of persecution
- Two counts of deportations and other inhumane acts
- One count of inflicting terror upon civilians
- One count of taking hostages
During the Bosnian war, which lasted for three-and-a-half years, Karadzic became a familiar face in the media as he met with negotiators and spoke with journalists.
The war began when ethnic Serbs took up arms to protest Bosnia's split with Yugoslavia in 1992. Karadzic's political party mobilized Serbs to fight against the Republic's Muslims and Croats.
Karadzic wanted to unite his republic's Serbs with neighboring Serbia, led by the late Slobodan Milosevic.
By the end of the conflict, about 250,000 people were dead.
Former UN commander Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, who served as a peacekeeper in the Balkans during the war, said Karadzic seemed to be a "naive" leader who was easily led by his advisors.
But he added that Karadzic should be held accountable if found guilty.
"Karadzic was the psychiatrist for the Sarajevo first-division (soccer) team, and a self-proclaimed but quite successful poet," MacKenzie told Newsnet. "He was not some general running around the field. But, he was the guy in charge. Whether he liked it or not, he was the president of the Serbs."
With files from The Associated Press
