UK rejects claims of poor prison treatment for Karadžić, media access controlled due to harm to victims

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - After a letter from intellectuals in Serbia complaining about prison conditions and seeking the transfer of life-sentenced Radovan Karadžić from a prison in the United Kingdom, the embassy of that country told BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina that the former president of Republika Srpska does not have worse conditions than other prisoners and that his media access will be controlled due to the harm it could cause to victims.

In a response to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH), it is stated that “the United Kingdom responded positively to the request of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals to ensure the serving of Radovan Karadžić's sentence, thereby providing support to international justice.”

“[Karadžić] does not receive special or different treatment. His access to the media is subject to controls because such contact could cause serious additional harm to his victims. These controls are in line with the laws and policies of the United Kingdom Prison Service that apply to all prisoners in the UK,” the response from the Embassy of the United Kingdom to BIRN BiH states.

The Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Movement “Mothers of the Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves” earlier warned that “Radovan Karadžić does not give up on attempts to avoid serving the life sentence he received in March 2019 for genocide in Srebrenica and other crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

“We ask you not to fall for provocations from Serbia, and we victims are deeply convinced that Radovan Karadžić in the United Kingdom enjoys the highest permitted level of rights as a convicted international criminal, in accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom. (…) We victims have never received any support or seen any emotion coming from Serbia,” the victims' association letter states.

The portal Večernje novosti reported on October 29 that 120 intellectuals from Serbia and Republika Srpska sent a letter and appeal to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, asking him “to change Karadžić's place of serving his sentence as soon as possible due to grossly violated human and prison rights, as well as the danger that the current treatment could affect his health and even endanger his life.”

“Without the right to meet with family and legal team, without the possibility to use a computer or lamp, without the possibility to have money sent for food or a phone, in complete isolation, exposed to psychological harassment – that is what human rights look like that the United Kingdom has provided to Radovan Karadžić, in the prison on the island of 'White',” Večernje novosti reported.

In the statement of the victims' association at that time, it was stated that the Republic of Serbia, with the help of the Russian Federation, engaged more than 120 intellectuals who had previously supported those convicted of war crimes to write a letter criticizing the Government of the United Kingdom, the International Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, and “the alleged poor conditions in the British prison where Karadžić is held.”

Radovan Karadžić was sentenced in March 2019 by the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals to life imprisonment for genocide against Bosniaks from Srebrenica, persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, terrorizing the population of Sarajevo during the siege of the city, and taking members of UN peacekeeping forces as hostages.