Radovan Karadzic

By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on June 1st, 2011
[Reuters]

In war, Ratko Mladic was a feared general; despised and feared by his enemies and revered by his own men.

That is how he was preserved in our memory during all those years he was in hiding; a swaggering, confident, brutal man.

But the Ratko Mladic whom we eventually got a glimpse of this week was much changed.

Impoverished and in bad health, he is a pathetic, sunken figure.

The circle of powerful friends who had protected him had gradually melted away over the years, leaving him with little logistical support outside his immediate family. That is what made his arrest possible, both in practical and political terms.

By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on March 1st, 2010

radepa3565.jpg

This will be an important week in The Hague, as the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia struggles to finally get some momentum going in the trial of the former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic.

One-and-a-half years have passed since that dramatic announcement in Belgrade that Karadzic, after more than a decade as a fugitive from justice, had finally been caught.

He had been disguised with a false identity, and practicing traditional medicine in the Serbian capital.

Since then, Karadzic has made only fleeting appearances in court. He boycotted the opening of his trial last October, saying he needed more time to prepare his own defence against 11 charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and breaches of the Geneva convention during the Bosnian war.

By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on January 18th, 2010
Photo by Getty Images

Serbia aspires to join the EU, but has it really faced up to its war-guilt?

This article reports on a recent survey which shows that most Serbians do not think Ratko Mladic is guilty of war crimes, or that he should even be handed over to the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague.

Anyone who knows Serbia well will not be surprised by these findings, nor by the fact that the majority of Serbs have a negative opinion of the Hague.  Many Serbs have told me they believe the UN tribunal is biased against them.

The Serb leaders in the Bosnian civil war, Ratko Mladic, and Radovan Karadzic, are widely lionised, especially, in the Serbian part of Bosnia, known as Republika Srpska.

By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on October 21st, 2009
Radovan Karadzic, photo by Getty Images

I'm travelling to Bosnia this week. I'll be there to cover reaction to the beginning of the trial of the Bosnian Serb war time leader, Radovan Karadzic. The trial is taking place at the Hague, and Mr Karadzic is charged with crimes against humanity.  We'll be hearing a lot more about the horrific events of the early 90's in the coming months.

But whilst in Sarajevo, I'll also be keeping an ear out for opinions on the current situation in Bosnia.

The country is in a political crisis, although until now, the rest of the world has been paying little attention. Co-operation between the leaders of ethnic Serbs on one side, and Bosniak Muslims and Croats on the other, has broken down. This week EU and American mediators are in Sarajevo, trying to patch together a deal.

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