Serbia’s most dreaded war criminal, Radovan Karadzic who is currently under trial for mass genocide during the four years long Serbian war, today again skipped the United Nations War Crime Tribunal. Karadzic has constantly been boycotting the trial stating that, he wasn’t given enough time to prepare, as he is defending himself in the trial. However, the judges at the hearing stated that, the trial can proceed without the presence of the defendant.

At the start of the trail, loads of Serbian war survivors, many of whom had survived the atrocities perpetrated by Radovan Karadzic were present in the court room. As the trail proceeded, the presiding judge O-Gon Kwon expressed his regret for Karadzic, who had missed the trial for the second as well and stated that, the court might be forced to appoint a layer for the defendant, if he insists on missing the trials again and again.

Because of his role in the Serbian war, Radovan Karadzic has been imposed with 11 charges of international crimes. These charges include, 2 counts of genocide, combined with nine more charges of crimes against humanity and other charges of human rights violations. If convicted, Karadzic is expected to face a maximum term of life imprisonment.

The prosecution in the case of Radovan Karadzic is expected to bring in more witnesses in the latter stages of the trial. These witnesses are believed to some of the few survivors of the ‘killing fields’, where the Serbian forces had methodically slaughtered over 7,000 Muslim men and boys, in July, 1995, in an effort to eradicate any future resistance from the minority community.

Via Associated Press.