Ikanović: I fear unrest in RS during Karadžić verdict

Edin Ikanović from the Coalition First March expects that the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska will increase the number of police officers on the streets of Republika Srpska during the reading of the verdict for Radovan Karadžić, in order to stop potential incidents, and especially to prevent attacks on Bosniak returnees and their property, reports the Patria agency.

The verdict for the first president of Republika Srpska and Hague indictee Radovan Karadžić will be pronounced on March 24 before the Hague Tribunal.

Karadžić, the former president of Republika Srpska and supreme commander of its armed forces, is charged with genocide in Srebrenica committed in 1995 and in several other municipalities in 1992, persecution of the non-Serb population, terrorising the citizens of Sarajevo, and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.

He was arrested in 2008, after more than a decade spent in hiding.

His trial began in October 2009, and the Prosecution began presenting evidence six months later, concluding this process in May 2012.

Karadžić, who is defending himself, called his witnesses from October 2012 until May last year.

In the closing argument held in the autumn, the Prosecution requested a life sentence for the former RS president, who in his final address to the Trial Chamber expressed his belief that he would be acquitted.

The verdict will be delivered by a chamber presided over by South Korean judge O-Gon Kwon, whose members are Howard Morrison and Melville Baird.

- Returnees expect the harshest punishment for Karadžić. Unfortunately, the Serbian side does not think so, and we fear that during the reading of the verdict, whatever it may ultimately be, nationalists and hooligans could cause unrest in some cities in RS – Ikanović told Patria. He called on Bosniak returnees to follow the reading of the verdict for Karadžić in a peaceful and dignified manner.