It was October 14, 1991. Yugoslavia had already fallen apart and fighting was rampant across Croatia. In the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serb leader Radovan Karadzic stepped up to the lectern. He then proceeded to issue a threat to Muslim Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats, who wanted to become independent from the Serb-dominated remainder of the multi-ethnic state.

"Consider that you could thereby lead Bosnia and Herzegovina to hell and perhaps lead the Muslim people into annihilation," Karadzic told the parliament. "If there is war here, the Muslim people will not be able to defend themselves."

Shortly thereafter, in the spring of 1992, the bloodiest conflict in Europe since the end of World War Two broke out in Bosnia. More than 110,000 people died, over a million were temporarily displaced. For three-and-a-half years, the Serbs shelled the beleaguered capital Sarajevo with grenades. Snipers were also in action. The sad climax came before the end of the war in 1995: the execution of almost 8,000 Bosniaks in Srebrenica.

No mercy for Karadzic

In numerous concentration camps, women were massively raped and men beaten to death.

"I was heavily injured on my torso and stomach," said Murat Tahirovic, who survived the abuse. "The stomach wound was kept open and my torturers stuck a police baton in it. I was beaten, several teeth were knocked out. I was offended, mentally tortured, wasn't allowed to use the toilet. And you couldn't wash yourself anyway."

Tahirovic was in his mid-20s at the time and a soldier in the Bosniak army. He was taken captive and put in a camp near the border to Croatia. After two months, the former mining engineer was freed. Today, he still suffers from constant pain and the pictures from then continue to haunt him.

In retrospect, Tahirovic, who heads an association of former Bosniak concentration camp detainees, said he doesn't bear a grudge against his direct tormentors.

"They were too young at the time, manipulated by the media and put under pressure," Tahirovic said. "In some respects, I forgive them." But those who instructed the deeds, who were aware of the torture, they could not be forgiven, he said. This was particularly the case for Karadzic.

Guilt confirmed

The charges against Karadzic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia total 11 points. Numerous previous judgments by the Tribunal in The Hague confirm that the crimes occurred.

Mirsad Tokaca, head of the war crimes Research and Documentation Center in Sarajevo, said the evidence against Karadzic was overwhelming. There could be no doubt of his guilt in the brutal human rights violations by the Serbs in Bosnia against Muslim Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats.

Tokaca said Karadzic triggered the war and knew he could count on Slobodan Milosevic, the nationalist and authoritarian president of Serbia at the time.

"Karadzic knew that Belgrade and Serbia were behind him, the Milosevic regime and the Yugoslav army," Tokaca said. "The crimes which are considered key events were committed in April, May and in part June and July of 1992. At this time, the Yugoslavian army was fighting for Karadzic's ideas with force of arms."

Tokaca has even delivered evidence of this: audio recordings from Sarajevo.

Karadzic was Milosevic's political protege and war ally. The Tribunal's prosecutors are of the view that Milosevic and Karadzic and other Serbian politicians and officers wanted to use the collapse of Yugoslavia to forcibly take over those areas in Croatia and Bosnia inhabited by Serbs.

From a hobby poet to a miracle healer

Milosevic died during his trial in The Hague. Just as he did, Karadzic is defending himself before the Tribunal and expected to use the courtroom as a political stage.

The psychiatrist Senadin Ljubovic, who helps Bosnian war victims, said Karadzic is convinced that he acted correctly.

"He'll even say he was forced to order the murder of those many people," Ljubovic said. "He had warned them beforehand but they didn't want to listen to him. I don't think that he'll ever show remorse."

Ljubovic was Karadzic's mentor. He introduced the then young student to psychiatry at the clinic in Sarajevo. The hobby poet Karadzic came to the Bosnian capital with his parents from the Montenegrin mountains. Later, he was prosecuted for embezzlement but never went to prison thanks to his unofficial collaboration with the intelligence service. At the beginning of the war in Bosnia, the nationalist was elected Serbian president.

After the end of the war and arraignment, Karadzic disappeared and was on the run for more than 13 years. When he was caught last summer, he worked as a miracle healer in Serbia's capital Belgrade. Since then, he's been in custody in The Hague.

Karadzic is being held responsible for murder, torture and displacement during the Balkan war 15 years ago. He denies any guilt. According to jurists, he can expect a lifelong sentence if convicted.

Author: Filip Slavkovic (sac)
Editor: Rob Turner