Former Republika Srpska Leader Acquitted on Genocide Charge; Trial Will Continue as to Remaining Charges

A trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia dismissed Radovan Karadzic's oral motion for acquittal as to ten counts of the indictment but granted his motion as to the first count, which charged Karadzic with genocide for crimes committed March-December 1992 in certain municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The ruling was delivered pursuant to Rule 98 bis, which provides:

"At the close of the Prosecutor’s case, the Trial Chamber shall, by oral decision and after hearing the oral submissions of the parties, enter a judgement of acquittal on any count if there is no evidence capable of supporting a conviction."

The Prosecution charged Karadzic, former President of Republika Srpska and Supreme Commander of its forces, with genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws or customs of war committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. 

Count one charged Karadzic with genocide for crimes committed between March 31 and December 31, 1992, against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats in certain municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Chamber reviewed the evidence regarding the killing of, serious bodily harm to, forcible displacement of, and conditions of life inflicted on Bosnian Muslims and/or Bosnian Croats in the relevant municipalities and found that, the evidence, even if taken in the most favorable light, does not reach the level from which a reasonable trier of fact could infer that genocide occurred.  The definition of the term genocide, found in Article 4 of the Updated Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (2009), requires that specified acts be committed with the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group...."  Although the Chamber had heard evidence of acts systematically committed against Bosnian Muslims and/or Bosnian Croats, the nature, scale, and context of the acts did not rise to the level from which a reasonable trier of fact could infer that they were committed with genocidal intent. 

The Chamber dismissed Karadzic's request for acquittal as to the remaining ten counts of the indictment.
 
Karadzic was first indicted on July 25, 1995.  Despite the issuance of an arrest warrant in 1995 , Karadzic was not arrested until 2008.  The trial began on October 26, 2009. 

The Defense case is scheduled to commence on October 16, 2012.