BRUSSELS, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Prosecutors were told on Thursday to drop some of the charges against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic in order to speed up the trial, Dutch media reported.
Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz intends to bring 11 charges against Karadzic. But the judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) believe that the charges are too many to handle. Prosecutors are also being asked to indicate which of the 500 proposed witnesses can be scrapped.
The prosecutors will have to present the court with a written document showing how the trial can be settled more quickly. They will have to indicate which witnesses are superfluous and which indictments can be dropped.
Currently, Karadzic is charged with 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including persecution, extermination, and deportation during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.
The UN court in The Hague is under pressure to conclude the Karadzic trial at an early date given the fact that former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic died in custody.
The tribunal was initially meant to finish all trials by 2008 and appeals by 2010. But it has recently suggested that it will only conclude its final Karadzic trial in early 2012, while appeals may run into 2013.
Karadzic was arrested in July 2008 in Serbia after 13 years on the run. He was transferred to the ICTY the same month.
没有评论:
发表评论