KARADŽIĆ DEFENSE TEAM TO REQUEST TRANSFER FROM UK PRISON TO THE HAGUE

BELGRADE, MAY 13 /SRNA/ – The defense team plans to file a request with the Hague Mechanism for the transfer of Republika Srpska's first president, Radovan Karadžić, from a British prison back to a detention facility in the Hague, defense attorney Goran Petronijević said in a statement to SRNA.

Petronijević said that no one has seen Karadžić in the past five years and added that his health condition is poor, while prison authorities on the Isle of Wight are denying him medical care and violating his human rights.

He noted that Karadžić's condition periodically stabilizes, but stressed that this does not represent an improvement, only a temporary halt in the deterioration of his health.

Petronijević said Karadžić faces poor conditions in the prison on the Isle of Wight, including inadequate medical treatment, despite being chronically ill.

"We are fighting as much as we can. If the issue concerning General Ratko Mladić is resolved, we would at least like Karadžić to be returned to the Hague, if nothing else", Petronijević said.

According to him, conditions in the Hague detention unit are at least somewhat better than in prisons such as those in the UK, where conditions are extremely poor.

Petronijević reminded that the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, the legal successor to the Hague Tribunal, is responsible for overseeing the serving of sentences by convicted persons.

"They are the ones who decide on this and we will address our request to them", Petronijević said.

He also noted that Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujić had raised the issue both publicly and in direct contact with Mechanism President Graciela Gatti Santana, pointing out that members of Karadžić's family are unable to obtain British visas or visit him in prison.

"No one has seen him for five years. That is terrible. He was not sent to serve a sentence, but into captivity. On top of that, he is being denied medical care", Petronijević stressed.

According to him, if Karadžić were in the Hague, at least his family would be able to visit him.

"It is simply unbelievable how not only his rights are being violated, but completely eliminated", Petronijević said.

He reminded that even persons deprived of liberty retain certain prison rights.

Petronijević added that Karadžić is constantly subjected to mistreatment in the British prison, ranging from being denied a proper light bulb, to having his pillow or chair confiscated as punishment, and being unable to contact his family.

"These are things unworthy of the 21st century", Petronijević said.

Radovan Karadžić, the first president of Republika Srpska, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019 for alleged war crimes in BiH.

Karadžić has been serving his sentence in a prison on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom since May 2021. The prison has a reputation as one of the worst correctional facilities in the UK and reportedly fails to meet many standards applied in most European countries.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said yesterday during a UN Security Council session on BiH that British authorities, in cooperation with the Mechanism, had created inhumane prison conditions for Karadžić.

Karadžić's daughter, Sonja Karadžić Jovičević, has repeatedly pointed to the extremely difficult conditions her father faces and his deteriorating health due to the lack of medical examinations and adequate treatment.