Radovan Karadzic in the courtroom

Radovan Karadzic has already submitted a number of motions asking for his trial to be adjourned, citing purported failure of the prosecution to disclose potentially exculpatory material on time. Since the beginning of the trial, Karadzic has filed 31 motions about the delayed disclosure of documents, calling for an adjournment. One such motion has been granted to date.

In his latest motion, Karadzic calls for a three-month adjournment, citing the fact that on 14 January 2011, the prosecution disclosed five documents although it had the documents ‘for at least ten years’. This delay, Karadzic claims, has denied the defense the chance to confront some of the past witnesses with those documents.

Karadzic contends that the recently disclosed documents ‘contradict the fundamental allegations in the indictment’ about the restrictions of the freedom of movement in Sarajevo, unjustified restrictions to humanitarian aid, control of paramilitary formations and the ethnic cleansing policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This delay has prompted Karadzic to ask for a three-month adjournment of his trial after the prosecution completed the ‘Sarajevo stage’ of its case and before it starts calling evidence on the crimes in the 20-odd municipalities listed in the indictment.

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