'Karadžić turned Sarajevo into an open-air camp, but the city still welcomes all good people'

(Patria) - The president of the Association of Civilian War Victims of Sarajevo Canton, Senita Imamović, expects a life sentence for Radovan Karadžić, which the Hague Tribunal will pronounce on Wednesday. The former president of the Republika Srpska, an entity in BiH, Radovan Karadžić was sentenced by the Hague Tribunal to 40 years in prison, a non-final verdict, having been found guilty of genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout BiH, terrorizing the population of Sarajevo through prolonged shelling and sniping, and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.

Karadžić appealed that verdict, but the Hague Prosecution also did so, seeking that he be found guilty of genocide in seven additional municipalities and sentenced to life imprisonment. The first indictment against Karadžić was confirmed in July 1995. He was arrested in Serbia in July 2008, and his trial began in October 2009. The Hague Tribunal will deliver the final verdict tomorrow against the former leader of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) and former president of the Republika Srpska.

Imamović recalls that Sarajevo was under siege for 1,425 days during the war, the longest siege in the history of modern warfare and the longest siege of a capital city ever. It lasted 44 months, during which 11,541 civilians were killed, including 1,601 children.

"We witnessed unprecedented barbarism, which plunged the entire world into grief, but the fascist policies of that evil have not been renounced even today," says Imamović, who also calls denial and negation of crimes a crime. She recalls that Sarajevo was completely destroyed during the occupation, that it was an open-air camp, but that these wounds, she said, would heal much faster if Sarajevo were treated today as an open museum of sacrifice and a warning to all peoples never again to allow anyone to lead them into conflicts.

"Sarajevo endured suffering, but it is again large enough to be ready to extend a hand of reconciliation," said Imamović