UN war crimes court rejects Karadzic’s attempt to halt trial, clearing war for first witness

UN judges reject Karadzic’s attempt to halt trial

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal on Thursday rejected former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic’s latest attempt to halt his genocide trial.

Karadzic asked Tuesday for his trial to be stopped, saying it was unfair for prosecutors to be allowed to use around 1,500 statements and pieces of testimony from previous trials at the U.N. court without giving him a chance to cross-examine the witnesses.

In a four-page ruling Thursday, judges said Karadzic would have “ample opportunity to bring evidence to rebut” the prosecution’s case.

Karadzic’s trial is due to hear its first witness Tuesday. It has been repeatedly delayed since he boycotted the prosecution’s opening statement in October, complaining that he had not had enough time to prepare.

The former president of the Bosnian Serb mini state is defending himself against two counts of genocide and nine other counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Prosecutors allege he masterminded Serb atrocities throughout the war, including the murder of around 8,000 Muslims in the Srebrenica enclave, Europe’s worst massacre since World War II.

Karadzic was arrested in 2008 on a Belgrade bus after 13 years as a fugitive.

Judges have given prosecutors 300 hours to present their case against Karadzic. His trial is expected to stretch into next year.