Radovan Karadzic Conspicuously Absent from Own War Crimes Trial

Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader on trial for war crimes, surprised the court yesterday when he boycotted his own trial, claiming that he hadn’t had enough time to prepare a defense. The oddity to that excuse, of course, is that Karadzic was indicted in 1995 and it was announced that he would be tried over 15 months ago, right after he was captured in Belgrade. The judge in the case adjourned the opening day after just 15 minutes, which more than irked some of the survivors of the Bosnian war who were in attendance. Judges promised that the trial would move forward today "with or without" Karadzic.

Karadzic, who is 64 years old, is being charged with two counts of genocide and nine other counts that include war crimes and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors have alleged that Karadzic was behind a string of violent acts throughout the war that lasted from 1992 to 1995. Said Suada Mugic, a survivor who made a long bus trip from Bosnia to watch the trial, "We expected some kind of justice but there is not any. This is very hard and upsetting for us. Everything reminds us of 1995. My husband disappeared, my father and some 23 members of my family."

Karadzic went missing years ago and remained so for several years. During that time, Karadzic disguised himself as a New Age healer and went by the name Dr. Dragan Dabic. He let his hair grow long, grew a large, bushy beard and wore thick glasses to disguise himself. In pleading for more time to prepare his defense, Karadzic wrote, "From a standpoint of an accused there is nothing more important than a proper preparation and conduct of a defense."