The Arrest and Impending Trial of Radovan Karadzic

On 21 July 2008, Radovan Karadzic, the former president of the separatist Bosnian Serb entity, the Republika Srpska, and one of the most sought-after fugitives from international criminal justice, was arrested by Serbian authorities in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. He was surrendered to the custody of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) several days later, where he will be tried for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina. This short note will briefly explore some of the basic legal questions arising from the arrest of Karadzic and his impending trial. It will first examine the indictment against Karadzic, including the genocide charge and the consequences of a possible genocide conviction. The note will then turn to the alleged immunity deal that Karadzic claims was agreed between him and Richard Holbrooke, a ranking US diplomat. The note will finally examine the issue of self-representation and the potentially adverse effects that it might have on what is certainly a trial of great symbolic importance.