Radovan Karadzic accuses first witness at genocide trial of being ‘biased and insincere’

Karadzic says first witness against him is biased

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Radovan Karadzic on Wednesday accused the first prosecution witness at his genocide trial of fabricating an account of a mass murder.

The former Bosnian Serb leader, who is conducting his own defense, spent more than three hours seeking to discredit Bosnian Muslim mine worker Ahmet Zulic, who testified for almost 90 minutes.

Zulic told the U.N. court on Tuesday that he witnessed the June 1992 massacre of some 20 Muslim men who were forced to dig their own graves and then were shot or had their throats cut by a Serb butcher. Zulic said he only survived the slayings because his old school teacher intervened on his behalf.

Karadzic, peering over his glasses and waving his right hand for emphasis, dismissed the event as a lie and said the butcher was prepared to sue Zulic for “libel and perjury.”

“I maintain you made up the whole event,” he said.

Zulic responded by pointing to a scar on his throat he said the butcher left when he started to cut him. He said Serbs also smashed out some of his teeth when they jammed the barrel of a gun into his mouth during the same incident.

Presiding judge O-Gon Kwon repeatedly urged Karadzic to “move on” during the lengthy cross examination.

“Bear in mind you are not giving evidence,” Kwon told Karadzic. “Just question the witness.”

Karadzic’s decision to defend himself and bombard the witness with questions echoes the defense strategy of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.

Milosevic’s trial at the same court was aborted without a verdict after four years when he died of a heart attack in 2006.

Both former leaders were charged with allegedly masterminding Serb atrocities throughout Bosnia’s 1992-95 war. Milosevic was further charged over Serb crimes in Croatia and Kosovo.

Karadzic faces two counts of genocide and nine other war crimes and crimes against humanity charges. He insists he is innocent but faces life imprisonment if convicted.

Zulic claimed Serb forces crippled him with repeated beatings in 1992 while holding him and other Muslims expelled from their homes in makeshift detention facilities in a cramped garage and a cattle shed.

Karadzic claims Muslims were plotting to turn Bosnia into an Islamic republic before the 1992-95 war.