Karadzic wants tribunal judge replaced
Wednesday, 20 Aug 2008 09:44
Radovan Karadzic has asked for the UN war crimes judge to be replaced
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Former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has asked for the judge in charge of the preparatory stage of his trial at the United Nations war crimes tribunal to be replaced.
Mr Karadzic filed a request to the court in The Hague on Tuesday, arguing that Alphons Orie had a "personal interest" in his case.
"There clearly cannot be any question of impartiality on his [Judge Orie's] part," Mr Karadzic said.
He cited other cases involving Judge Orie, including the conviction of the former Bosnian Serb parliament speaker Momcilo Krajisnik, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Mr Karadzic said the judge would be interested in having that sentence "upheld and somehow validated, which could be achieved through, inter alia, partial and biased conduct of the case against me".
Mr Karadzic has been indicted for genocide and war crimes over his role in the war in Bosnia.
He is suspected of being directly involved in the killing of 8,000 Muslim Bosnians in the town of Srebrenica in 1995 and will also be examined over his role in other events during the war such as the siege of Sarajevo.
The 63-year-old refused to enter a plea during his first appearance at the international court last month.
He is next due in front of the war crimes tribunal on August 29th.