Reactions from Republika Srpska to Karadžić verdict - Does not contribute to reconciliation

(Patria) - The Chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and leader of the SNSD, Milorad Dodik, stated today that the verdict against the first president of Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadžić, is "quite arrogant and cynical, and part of settling scores among earlier verdicts of the Hague Tribunal."

Dodik stressed that the mission of the Hague Tribunal was to "ensure reconciliation, but that now it has come to the point where it is even more uncertain and almost impossible."

Željka Cvijanović, President of Republika Srpska, an entity in BiH, stated that the outcome of Karadžić's trial could have been assumed and assessed that there is a „selective approach to justice.“

For the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković, such a verdict was expected. He said that it confirmed „the previous practice of the Hague Court in proceedings conducted against Serbs.“

The Serbian Democratic Party announced that it is an unfounded and scandalously unjust verdict.

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague today issued a second-instance verdict against the first president of Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadžić, sentencing him to life imprisonment for genocide and other crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The second-instance verdict was delivered after considering appeals by the defense and prosecution against the first-instance verdict, by which the Hague Tribunal sentenced him to 40 years in prison in 2016.

Maja Kocijančič, spokesperson for the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, stated today after the Karadžić verdict that denial and revisionism are in contradiction with the most fundamental European values. 

„International criminal law not only contributes to ending impunity, but also encourages trust and reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entire region. The EU also supports efficient and effective domestic prosecution of war crimes, which complements and continues the work of international tribunals," the statement by Kocijančič reads, among other things.