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Radovan Karadzic found guilty of genocide,

sentenced to 40 years
By Tim Hume, Tiffany Ap and Milena Veselinovic, CNN

Updated 0208 GMT (1008 HKT) March 25, 2016

 Radovan Karadzic guilty of genocide and other counts of war crimes, crimes against
humanity
 Ex-leader of breakaway Serb Republic in Bosnia held responsible for Srebrenica
massacre
 He has been sentenced to 40 years for his role in the crimes

(CNN)Radovan Karadzic, nicknamed the "Butcher of Bosnia," was sentenced to 40 years in

prison Thursday after being found guilty of genocide and other crimes against humanity over
atrocities that Bosnian Serb forces committed during the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995.

A special U.N. court in The Hague, Netherlands, found the 70-year-old guilty of genocide
over his responsibility for the Srebrenica massacre, in which more than 7,000 Bosnian
Muslim men and boys were executed by Bosnian Serb forces under his command.
Karadzic, former leader of the breakaway Serb Republic in Bosnia, is the highest-ranking
political figure to have been brought to justice over the bitter ethnic conflicts that erupted with
the collapse of the former Yugoslavia.
'Don't be afraid,' then 8,000 slaughtered 04:40
After the verdict, thousands of Serbian ultranationalist supporters of Karadzic took to the
streets of Serbian capital of Belgrade, carrying images of the former leader and saying he was
being punished for being a Serb.
On the streets of Belgrade, people voiced mixed reactions to the sentence.
"He was given 40 years, did not get a life? So it's a disaster," one man said.
Another said, "They should charge other people, not Radovan Karadzic. He defended Serbian
people, sacrificed himself for Serbian people, but authorities in Serbia sent him to Hague."
Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said in a statement that the verdict and sentence "will stand
against continuing attempts at denying the suffering of thousands and the crimes committed in
the former Yugoslavia."
"Moments like this should also remind us that in innumerable conflicts around the world
today, millions of victims are now waiting for their own justice," he added. "This judgment
shows that it is possible to deliver it."
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed the verdicts as a "historic" result for the people
of the former Yugoslavia and for international criminal justice, while the U.N. high
commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said they exposed Karadzic as "the
architect of destruction and murder on a massive scale."
Karadzic, a former psychiatrist, was found guilty of 10 of the 11 charges against him,
including extermination, persecution, forcible transfer, terror and hostage taking.
In a statement, the tribunal said it found Karadzic had committed the crimes through his
participation in four "joint criminal enterprises," including an overarching plot from October
1991 to November 1995 "to permanently remove Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from
Bosnian Serb-claimed territory."
The trial was heard by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia -- an ad
hoc court the United Nations established to prosecute serious crimes committed during the
conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's director for Europe and Central Asia, said the results
confirmed Karadzic's "command responsibility for the most serious crimes under international
law carried out on European soil since the Second World War."
The Croatian government hailed the verdicts Thursday -- which came at the end of an eight-
year trial -- as welcome but long overdue, calling them "the minimum, for which the victims
and their families unfortunately waited too long."
Radovan Karadzic: From psychiatrist to 'Butcher of Bosnia'
Genocide in Srebrenica

In July 1995, tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims had sought refuge in the spa town of
Srebrenica -- designated a U.N. "safe area" -- as the Bosnian Serb army marched toward
them.
But with only about 100 lightly equipped Dutch peacekeepers there for protection, the town
was overrun by Serb forces.
Delivering the verdicts, presiding Judge O-Gon Kwon said the tribunal found that about
30,000 Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly men had been removed to Muslim-held
territory by Bosnia Serb forces acting on Karadzic's orders.
Karadzic's forces then detained the Muslim men and boys in a number of locations before
taking them to nearby sites, where they were executed by the thousands.
The tribunal found that Karadzic was the only person within the Serb Republic with the power
to intervene to prevent them being killed, but instead he had personally ordered that detainees
be transferred elsewhere to be killed.
It found he shared with other Bosnian Serb leaders the intent to kill every able-bodied
Bosnian Muslim male from Srebrenica -- which amounted "to the intent to destroy the
Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica," the tribunal said in a statement.

Civilians targeted in Sarajevo

Other charges against Karadzic stemmed from the infamous siege of Sarajevo, from 1992 to
1995, during which more than 11,000 people died.

Haunted by the Bosnian War 03:06

The judge said Bosnian Serb forces had consistently and deliberately targeted civilians in
Sarajevo, acts that constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity.
"Sarajevo civilians were sniped while fetching water, walking in the city, and when using
public transport. Children were sniped at while playing in front of their houses, walking with
their parents or walking home from school," the judge said.
He said Karadzic was "consistently informed" about the targeting of civilians, had allowed it
to intensify and used it to exert pressure in pursuit of his political goals.
The judge said the sniping attacks on the civilian population, which instilled extreme fear
among the city's residents, could not have occurred without Karadzic's support, and the only
reasonable inference was that the former Serb leader had intended murder, unlawful attacks
on civilians and terror.

U.N. peacekeepers taken hostage

The tribunal also found Karadzic guilty of taking U.N. peacekeepers hostage in May and June
1995, with the judge calling him a "driving force" behind a plot to put the hostages in key
military and other strategic locations to deter NATO airstrikes on the targets.
The judge said the U.N. personnel were also threatened during their detention, with the goal
of bringing a halt to the strikes altogether.
Karadzic was found not guilty on one of the counts of genocide, relating to crimes against
Bosnian Muslims and Croats in "municipalities" throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The tribunal found that Serb forces had killed, raped, forcibly displaced and tortured the other
ethnic groups in the municipalities, and found Karadzic guilty of persecution, extermination,
deportation, forcible transfer and murder in relation to crimes committed there.
However, the judge said, the court was unable to identify or infer genocidal intent, and
therefore couldn't establish beyond a reasonable doubt that genocide had occurred there.

Bizarre path to justice

Karadzic, who had denied the charges against him -- blaming any war crimes committed on
rogue elements -- has the right to appeal.
He is also entitled to credit for the time he has spent in custody since his arrest in July 2008.
His road to The Hague has been a long one, marked by bizarre twists. He went into hiding in
1996 and was not arrested until 12 years later. When he emerged, he was heavily disguised by
a white beard, long hair and spectacles.

Radovan Karadzic used a disguise of a beard and glasses while in hiding.

Serb officials revealed that Karadzic had been hiding in plain sight -- working in a clinic in
Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, under a false identity as a "healer."
He had also managed to publish a book of poetry during his time on the run.
He was extradited to The Hague to face charges and pleaded not guilty. He initially tried to
represent himself, leading to delays in his trial, but eventually was forced to accept an
attorney.
Thursday's verdict comes more than a year after the end of his trial in 2014. The 500-day trial
included evidence from 586 witnesses and more than 11,000 exhibits.
Karadzic's former army chief, Ratko Mladic, who was arrested in 2012, is facing charges of
genocide and war crimes committed during the conflict. A judgment in his case is expected in
2017.

CNN's Ray Sanchez and Richard Allen Greene contributed to this report.