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Karadzic's Attorney Talks

Suspected War Criminal Wants to Conduct own Defense

Radovan Karadzic's attorney has started a PR offensive. Svetozar Vujacic says his client wanted to turn himself over to the authorities this coming January. In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, he discusses his strategy for the UN tribunal and reveals that the suspected war criminal wants to conduct his own defense.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: You claim that Radovan Karadzic was arrested on Friday, but the government in Belgrade is insisting it happened on Monday. Who's lying?

Vujacic: There is no doubt. I went to dinner on Sunday with Luk Karadzic, Radovan's brother. At the time, Luk had already been told by an informant that his brother had been arrested. Radovan Karadzic was, according to his own account, arrested on Friday while on the bus line 73 between Belgrade and Batanica. From there he wanted to take the bus to Vrnik to spend a few days of vacation at the spa there. In his luggage, he had a bathing cap and swimming trunks. Radovan is extremely bitter about the way in which he was arrested. They put a hood over his head and illegally detained him for three days.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What advantage do you see the government having in giving a false date?

Vujacic: You could post special units throughout the entire city in order to stamp out potential unrest. In addition, parliament went on two weeks vacation on Friday so that the opposition couldn't become a disruptive factor when it came to the extradition.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: When do you expect Karadzic to be extradited to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague?

Vujacic: I have the right to appeal until Friday. I will use this time limit right up until the last second. Among other things, I want to give his family and his two brothers the chance to see him. Nevertheless, I am extremely disappointed in the inhumanity shown by the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia. Karadzic's wife and daughter have had their passports taken away from them, and so far they haven't been issued any special permits allowing them to travel to Serbia. I reckon that Karadzic will be transferred over to the tribunal using a special aircraft and two accompanying aircraft next Tuesday or Wednesday.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: How was it possible for Karadzic to continue to live right under the nose of the international community for 12 years without anyone recognizing him?

Vujacic: He changed his appearance and lost so much weight that, with his long white beard and dioptric glasses, nobody could recognize him. He didn't just go for walks in the city and take public buses -- he also practiced psychiatry in two large Belgrade hospitals. He had a two-room apartment in New Belgrade that he rented for €350 a month from two Serbs who live in London. He even held lectures on psychiatry in front of audiences of 300 to 400 patients. He was known everywhere as Dragan Dabic.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Will Karadzic follow the example of Slobodan Milosevic and exercise his right to defend himself at the Hague tribunal?

Vujacic: Yes. He will only have a four or five-person team of advisors, which will include myself and Kosta Cavoski, the president of the Committee for the Truth about Radovan Karadzic. But it will take a little bit of time before we can gather the documents in the Republik Srpska that he needs for his defense.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: In your opinion, what is your client's psychiatric state following his arrest?

Vujacic: He is stable, but, of course, disappointed because he had wanted to voluntarily turn himself in in January 2009. At that point he could have defended himself in a Serbian court. As of December 21, 2008, all cases that haven't yet started are supposed to be transferred to national courts. (Editors: According to the UN mandate, the Tribunal is supposed to end all of its cases by the end of the year and all appeals by 2010.)

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What defense strategy have you agreed to with him?

Vujacic: We still need to make a decision about that. Karadzic is convinced that he prevented an even bigger "massacre" of Bosnian Serbs by Muslims and Croats.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Eight thousand Muslims were massacred at Srebrenica.

Vujacic: That's the UN's fault. They should have protected the enclave. And no one is lamenting the deaths of at least 3,000 Serbs there. Bosnian commander Naser Oric was acquitted because no one could directly link him as commander to any murder. Karadzic is being prosecuted for his responsibility as commander.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: How long do you think a trial will last?

Vujacic: It will take a few years.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Your are also an attorney for Ratko Mladic, who is the other man most-wanted for the massacre at Srebrenica. Will he soon follow Karadzic?

Vujacic: Let's just hope to God that they don't find him.

Interview conducted by Renate Flottau.