Judge Theodor Meron withdraws from Karadžić case

(Patria) - Judge Theodor Meron has withdrawn from the appeals proceedings in the case of Radovan Karadžić after the Karadžić Defence requested the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) to remove him from the appeals proceedings due to “bias”.

“So that my removal does not affect the progress of the appeals process, it is in the interest of justice that I withdraw from this case,” stated Judge Theodor Meron in his submission.

He noted that the request by Karadžić's Defence was based on the Mechanism's decision on the removal of judges in the appeals proceedings in the case of Ratko Mladić, and that it is contrary to established legal practice and harms the interests of the Mechanism.

Meron highlighted the progress in the appeals proceedings in Karadžić's case, emphasising that he would have judged impartially in this case. According to another submission, Judge Meron will be replaced by Judge Ivo Nelson de Caires Batista Rosa.

In a submission dated 26 September, Karadžić's lawyer Peter Robinson stated that MICT President 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 Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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

The Trial Chamber acquitted Karadžić of the charge of genocide in seven other municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Karadžić requested in his appeal 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.

Earlier this month, the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals accepted the request of Ratko Mladić's Defence to exclude three judges from the Appeals Chamber due to bias – including Meron. As stated in the decision, which the Hague prosecutors 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 Bosnia and Herzegovina, 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.