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UN judges reject Karadzic immunity appeal MIKE CORDER, Associated Press Writer Released : Tuesday, April 07, 2009 8:04 AM THE HAGUE, Netherlands-Judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal rejected Tuesday an appeal by Radovan Karadzic that he is immune from prosecution under a deal he cut with a U.S. peace envoy. The former Bosnian Serb leader claims American diplomat Richard Holbrooke promised him in 1996 that he would not be prosecuted by the U.N. court if he left power. Holbrooke, who is now President Barack Obama's envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, has denied making such a deal with Karadzic. The decision published Tuesday by the U.N. court's appeals chamber deals a blow to Karadzic's attempts to avoid prosecution on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Karadzic, 63, had argued at appeal that even if the alleged deal was invalid under international law, it could still "constitute an abuse of process" that should lead the tribunal to drop his case. However the appellate bench dismissed Karadzic's arguments, saying he was effectively trying to appeal a lower court's ruling in December that was already in his favor. In that ruling, a different panel of judges said any immunity deal would be invalid. Nevertheless, it ordered prosecutors to turn over to Karadzic a copy of the alleged deal and any written notes from the meeting where it was supposedly made, if they had them. Prosecutors said in January that they had searched but could not find any of the documents requested. Karadzic is accused of masterminding atrocities throughout Bosnia's 1992-95 war including ethnic cleansing campaigns, the siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica. Karadzic, who is defending himself, has refused to enter pleas to the 11 charges in his indictment. No date has been set for his trial to begin.
