[JURIST] Former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] convicted [judgment summary, PDF; press release] Thursday of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and sentenced to 40 years by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website]. The crimes for which Karadzic were convicted took place during the conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The court concluded that Karadzic’s involvement with and contributions to joint criminal enterprises showed that he was indeed “guilty of unlawful attacks on civilians, murder and terror.” The trial, which began in October 2009, lasted 499 days during which the court heard from 434 witnesses, with 11,469 exhibits and more than 330,000 pages of trial record, over which the court deliberated for approximately one year. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein [official profile] applauded [press release] the guilty verdict, calling it “hugely significant.” Zeid also said that the pronunciation of guilt was “symbolically powerful” for victims of war crimes worldwide, showing them that power is not enough to “escape justice.”

Karadzic maintained that he was unaware of the massacre and was innocent of any wrongdoing. In January 2014 former leader of the Bosnian Serb army Ratko Mladic refused to testify [JURIST report] at the Karadzic trial. Karadzic expected Mladic to testify that in their conversations, they never agreed to commit the crimes of which Karadzic was accused, which would negate his mens rea for multiple charges. Mladic refused to answer questions, stating that testifying in Karadzic’s case could prejudice his own case in the future. In October 2012 Karadzic opened his defense [JURIST report] in the ICTY by denying all charges against him. Earlier in 2012 the ICTY denied Karadzic’s request for a new trial after he argued that the prosecution had failed to disclose [JURIST reports] crucial information until after trial. The court reasoned that the delay in disclosing evidence had not infringed on Karadzic’s right to a fair trial. In June 2012 the judges from the ICTY went on a five-day visit [JURIST report] to locations relevant to the indictment of Karadzic. This visit came just months after the ICTY sentenced [JURIST report] former president of the municipality of Sokolac, BiH, Milan Tupajic to two months in prison for refusing to testify against Karadzic.