Radovan Karadžić

Radovan Karadžić
Name	Radovan Karadžić
Caption	Karadžić in 1993
Birth date	19 June 1945
Birth place	Petnjica, SR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Serbian
Occupation	Politician, poet, psychiatrist
Known for	President of Republika Srpska, ICTY conviction for genocide and war crimes
Party	Serb Democratic Party (SDS)
Criminal status	Convicted
Conviction	Genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes
Sentence	Life imprisonment

Radovan Karadžić was a Bosnian Serb politician, psychiatrist, and poet who served as the first President of Republika Srpska from 1992 to 1996. During the Bosnian War, he was the political leader of Bosnian Serbs and was later convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, including his role in the Srebrenica massacre and the Siege of Sarajevo. His capture in 2008 after over a decade in hiding and subsequent life sentence represent a landmark in international criminal law.

Early life and education

He was born in the village of Petnjica in SR Montenegro, then part of FPR Yugoslavia. His father, Vuko Karadžić, was a member of the Chetniks during World War II and was imprisoned by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The family moved to Sarajevo in Bosnia in 1960. He studied medicine at the University of Sarajevo Faculty of Medicine, specializing in psychiatry. He completed postgraduate studies at Columbia University in New York City and later worked at the Koševo Hospital in Sarajevo. Alongside his medical career, he published several volumes of poetry and was active in the cultural circles of Sarajevo.

Political career and rise to power

With the rise of Slobodan Milošević and the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, he entered politics. In 1990, he co-founded the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following the 1991 Bosnian Serb referendum and the 1992 independence referendum boycotted by Bosnian Serbs, he proclaimed the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which later became Republika Srpska. He was elected its president in May 1992, aligning closely with Ratko Mladić, the commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, and receiving support from Belgrade and the Yugoslav People's Army.

Role in the Bosnian War and genocide

As the supreme political authority, he oversaw the Bosnian Serb war effort during the Bosnian War. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found he participated in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at permanently removing Bosniaks and Croats from Serb-claimed territory. Key crimes under his leadership included the Siege of Sarajevo, which involved the shelling and sniping of civilians, and the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, where over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were executed by forces under the command of Ratko Mladić. His government also established and operated detention camps such as Omarska and Keraterm camp.

Indictment, arrest, and trial

In July 1995, the ICTY indicted him for genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws or customs of war. He was charged with two counts of genocide, including for events in Srebrenica and across Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the Dayton Agreement ended the war, he went into hiding, evading capture for nearly 13 years. He was arrested in Belgrade in July 2008 while living under the alias "Dragan Dabić," practicing alternative medicine. His transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague was a major event, and his trial began in October 2009.

Conviction and imprisonment

In March 2016, the ICTY Trial Chamber found him guilty of 10 of 11 charges, including one count of genocide for the Srebrenica massacre, as well as persecution, extermination, murder, and deportation. He was sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment. In 2019, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (MICT) Appeals Chamber increased the sentence to life imprisonment after prosecutors appealed, upholding his conviction for genocide in Srebrenica but overturning a second genocide conviction for other municipalities. He is currently serving his sentence at HM Prison Wakefield in the United Kingdom.

Personal life and alternative identity

He was married to Ljiljana Zelen Karadžić, and they have two children, a son and a daughter. During his years as a fugitive, he assumed the identity of Dragan Dabić, a practitioner of alternative medicine with a long beard and glasses, offering services in Belgrade. He gave public lectures, wrote for a health magazine, and was even a regular at a local kafana, successfully concealing his identity from the public and NATO forces for years. His arrest revealed a complex double life, contrasting sharply with his previous public persona as a nationalist leader.

Category:1945 births Category:Bosnian Serb politicians Category:People convicted of genocide Category:Presidents of Republika Srpska