http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080728/ap_on_re_eu/serbia_karadzic_6
Serb court awaits Karadzic's appeal
By DUSAN STOJANOVIC, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 54 minutes ago
Radovan Karadzic's lawyer said he expected his client to be extradited
before a Tuesday evening anti-government rally by ultranationalist
supporters of the war crimes suspect.
The rally organizers — the right-wing Serbian Radical Party — plan to
bus Karadzic's supporters from all over Serbia and Bosnia. There are
fears of violence on Belgrade streets and that the ultranationalists
will try to prevent Karadzic's extradition by force.
The war crimes court in Belgrade that is dealing with the case of the
ex-Bosnian Serb leader said Monday that his appeal had not arrived by
the start of morning office hours.
Karadzic's lawyer Svetozar Vujacic said he mailed the appeal at the
last possible moment late Friday, trying to delay Karadzic's
extradition to the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, for as long as
possible.
"Karadzic is a Bosnian Serb citizen, so it would be logical that the
appeal was mailed from Bosnia," Vujacic said Monday. "I wouldn't rule
out that my appeal grows a beard and mustache before it gets here."
Karadzic faces 11 charges at the U.N. tribunal, including genocide and
conspiracy to commit genocide. He is accused of masterminding the 1995
slaughter of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica and the 3 1/2
year siege of Sarajevo, which left 10,000 people dead.
Officials say the war crimes suspect was captured a week ago in
Belgrade, where he lived under an assumed identity. His lawyer claims
that Karadzic was kidnapped July 18 and held for three days by unknown
captors.
Vujacic said late Sunday that he wants to prevent his client's
extradition before the rally scheduled for Belgrade on Tuesday
evening.
"They (the authorities) are using all illegal means to try send him to
The Hague before the rally," Vujacic said.
"Karadzic and I want to make sure it does not happen before Tuesday,"
Vujacic said. "But we are unfortunately aware the extradition will
take place" before the rally.
A spokeswoman for Serbia's war crimes court, Ivana Ramic, said the
letter with Karadzic's appeal had not arrived by the start of working
hours Monday.
"For now, it hasn't arrived," Ramic told The Associated Press.
Once Serb judges decide on the appeal — which they are likely to
reject — the case will be handed over to the Serbian government, which
issues the final extradition order.
Karadzic's brother Luka Karadzic visited the ex-Bosnian Serb leader in
a detention cell Sunday accompanied by the lawyer. Asked later by
reporters whether they had filed an appeal, Luka Karadzic said: "Of
course we have."
"Radovan is well, totally calm and relaxed," Luka Karadzic said after
the visit. On Monday, he was seen taking two suits for his brother in
jail.
Serbia's new, pro-Western government hopes that Karadzic's arrest will
strengthen the country's bid for European Union membership. Prime
Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said Sunday that the arrest proves the
government's "determination to respect international law."
Karadzic had been a fugitive for nearly 13 years and Serbia had been
accused of not searching for those sought by the U.N. tribunal.
"We don't know where the other fugitives are hiding," Cvetkovic said
in a reference to Karadzic's colleague, former Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko
Mladic. "If we knew it, we would do as we have with Karadzic."
Associated Press writers Jovana Gec and Katarina Kratovac contributed
to this report.
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Serbian News Network - SNN
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