The former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, has cross-examined a survivor of the Srebrenica massacre, at his trial for war crimes at The Hague. Mr Karadzic, who is defending himself, put detailed questions to the man who had just described seeing around 40 men killed at Srebrenica. Prosecutors say he orchestrated a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” against Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Croats. Mr Karadzic, now 66, was arrested in 2008 after nearly 13 years on the run.
During his time in power, he was president of the self-styled Bosnian Serb Republic and commander of its army during the Bosnian conflict, which left more than 100,000 people dead and more than two million driven from their homes. Radovan Karadzic was particularly wanted for masterminding the killings at the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica, the only episode in the 1990s Balkans wars to have been ruled genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The witness who took the stand on Nov 24 is known as Protected Witness KDZ039. Mr Karadzic’s trial opened in October 2009, but has been hit by several delays since. The Srebrenica phase is the fourth and final stage of the prosecution’s case – about 60 witnesses are expected to take the stand. Prosecutors are expected to wrap up this phase by mid-2012.