[JURIST] Judges from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] on Tuesday began a five-day visit [press release] to locations relevant to the indictment of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic [ICTY case summary, PDF; JURIST news archive], founding member of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS). The visiting delegation includes four Trial Chamber judges as well as support staff from the Tribunal and representatives from both the prosecution and defense. The delegates will visit Srebrenica [JURIST news archive], Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as its surrounding areas. Karadzic is being tried for several war crimes including genocide and crimes against humanity.

This visit comes just months after the ICTY sentenced [JURIST report] former president of the municipality of Sokolac, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milan Tupajic [ICTY case summary, PDF], to two months in prison on two counts of contempt for refusing to testify against Karadzic. In February, the ICTY was accused by former Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Ratko Mladic [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], of being biased [JURIST report]. In January, the ICTY accepted a plea deal [JURIST report], convicting Jelena Rasic, the case manager for Bosnian war criminal Milan Lukic, on five counts of contempt for procuring false witness statements. In December, the ICTY convicted former Yugoslav intelligence officer Dragomir Pecanac of contempt [JURIST report] for failing to testify before the tribunal. Earlier that month, ICTY with International Criminal Tribune for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] reported [JURIST report] to the UN Security Council [official website] their progress in tracking and arresting fugitives for the tribunals’ mandates.