Karadzic Supporters Riot in Belgrade As Seven Jailed for Srebrenica Genocide

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic

Police battled hardline Serbian nationalists on the streets of Belgrade last night after a demonstration protesting against the planned extradition of the former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic.

Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse the rally. More than 3,500 police in full anti-riot gear were deployed as hundreds of protesters became violent.

There had been fears earlier in the day that the rally would turn violent after an estimated 25,000 people spilled on to Belgrade’s central Republic Square.

Clashes began as the rally was almost closing down after two hours of speeches. Reports say that 46 people were injured, 21 of them policemen.

Mr Karadzic, who was picked up in Belgrade after being in hiding for 13 years, is fighting extradition to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, where he faces genocide charges.

Thousands of anti-riot police surrounded Belgrade’s central Republic Square as demonstrators gathered during the evening. Police guarded the offices of the government and of the pro-European President, Boris Tadic. He is blamed by ultranationalists for “betraying the Serbian national interest” by arresting Mr Karadzic. Yesterday’s rally was organised by the Serbian Radical Party and its allies, which staged violent anti-Western demonstrations in February, when Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.

Prior to the rally, downtown Belgrade was experiencing 33C heat, its usually bustling streets almost empty. At this time of year, hundreds of thousands of Belgrade residents are on holiday.

It is widely believed that death threats against President Tadic and the police minister, Ivica Dacic, emanate from ultranationalist circles. Two other top officials, responsible for cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal, have also received threats. “I support the right to demonstrate, but order will be kept,” Mr Tadic said yesterday after violence broke out at earlier protests by hundreds of Karadzic supporters in Belgrade.

The targets were journalists, attacked by angry mobs while filming or reporting. The government remains firm in its intent to hand over the remaining war crimes suspects, General Ratko Mladic and the Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic. “The arrest of Karadzic was in a way the proof that there is a willingness to co-operate with the tribunal and we believe that co-operation [with the tribunal] will be essential for our country,” Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said ahead of an annual meeting of the region’s prime ministers.

“Karadzic was the number one, so if number one is the proof for the demonstration for willingness, then there is no reason why we wouldn’t do that to number two or others,” he said.

The arrest of the alleged war criminals is a major condition posed by the European Union for Serbia to join the 27-member bloc. However, yesterday the EU delayed a decision on unfreezing trade benefits for Serbia as a reward for the Karadzic arrest. The EU ambassadors decided to wait for Mr Karadzic’s transfer to the tribunal and for the chief UN war crimes prosecutor Serge Brammertz to report back on Serbia’s full co-operation with the court following a meeting expected in mid-August.

After Mr Karadzic’s arrest last week, the EU’s enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn, called for improved trade conditions with Serbia, although the EU states are divided on the issue.

Also yesterday, Bosnia’s war crimes court in Sarajevo sentenced seven Bosnian Serbs to prison terms ranging from 38 to 42 years at the end of a two-year trial. It was the first time a Bosnian court has convicted suspects in connection with the mass killing of up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in the UN “safe haven” in July 1995 during the Bosnian war.

“They killed several hundred Bosniaks from Srebrenica,” the judge, Hilmo Vucinic, said. Until now, only the Bosnian Serb wartime commander Radislav Krstic has been convicted in connection with the Srebrenica massacre. He is serving a 35-year sentence for genocide after being convicted by the UN tribunal in The Hague.

Following Karadzic’s arrest, the Bosnian Serb commander General Ratko Mladic remains the sole suspect wanted for the Srebrenica massacre who is still at large.

Originally published by By Vesna Peric Zimonjic in Belgrade and Anne Penketh.

(c) 2008 Independent, The; London (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.