Radovan Karadžić Requests Removal of Judge Theodor Meron

THE HAGUE, (Patria) - Former President of Republika Srpska (RS) Radovan Karadžić has requested the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) to remove Judge Theodor Meron from the appeals proceedings due to “bias”, BIRN reports.

Karadžić's lawyer Peter Robinson stated in the submission that the President of the MICT, Theodor Meron, should not remain a member of the Appeals Chamber given that in previous proceedings in The Hague he had made certain conclusions regarding Karadžić and the crimes committed in Srebrenica, Sarajevo, and municipalities in BiH.

- A reasonable observer with all the information could accept that Judge Meron is biased, given that he is only human… Karadžić, who is a psychiatrist, knows how our subconscious influences our decisions despite our best intentions - the submission reads.

Robinson also stated that Meron should be excluded for the sake of “the Mechanism itself – which strives to fight for the promotion of truth and reconciliation”.

- Many in the region will question the legitimacy of the verdict if Judge Meron remains on the Chamber - the submission concluded.

By the first-instance verdict of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), against which both the Defence and the Hague prosecutors have appealed, Karadžić was sentenced to 40 years in prison for genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout BiH, terrorising the population of Sarajevo, and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.

The first-instance chamber acquitted Karadžić of the charge of genocide in seven other Bosnian-Herzegovinian municipalities.

Karadžić has appealed, requesting that the first-instance verdict be quashed due to procedural errors and incorrectly established facts, and that he be retried. The prosecutors, in their appeal, requested that Karadžić also be convicted of genocide in 1992 and that his sentence be increased to life imprisonment.

The verdict was expected to be delivered by the end of this year.

The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals accepted this month a request from Ratko Mladić's Defence to exclude three judges from the Appeals Chamber due to bias – including Meron. As stated in the decision, against which the Hague prosecutors have appealed, Judges Meron, Daqun Liu, and Carmel Agius had previously made certain conclusions regarding Mladić, due to which they are not impartial.

Mladić was sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout BiH, terrorising the population of Sarajevo, and taking UNPROFOR members hostage. The appeals process is ongoing, and the verdict is expected to be delivered next year.