This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/16/radovan-karadzic-i-should-be-praised

The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Radovan Karadzic: I should be praised for peace efforts Radovan Karadzic: I should be praised for peace efforts
(35 minutes later)
Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader on trial for his alleged role in the siege of Sarajevo and the murder of 8,000 men and boys in Srebrenica, opened his defence claiming he should be praised as a "peacemaker." Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader on trial for his alleged role in the siege of Sarajevo and the murder of 8,000 men and boys in Srebrenica, has opened his defence claiming he should be praised as a "peacemaker".
Wearing a grey suit and a blue-striped tie, Karadzic, switching from Serbo-Croat to English and back, told The Hague war crimes tribunal: "Sarajevo is my city, and any story that we would shell Sarajevo without any reason is untrue." Wearing a grey suit and a blue, striped tie, Karadzic, switching from Serbo-Croat to English and back, told The Hague war crimes tribunal: "Sarajevo is my city, and any story that we would shell Sarajevo without any reason is untrue."
Outlining his case as he called his first witness, the 67-year-old made clear he would be claiming – as other Serb officials have unsuccessfully tried to do before him – that the Bosnian government were the aggressors in the war, shelling and sniping at their own civilians. Outlining his case, the 67-year-old made clear he would be claiming – as other Serb officials have unsuccessfully tried to do before him – that the Bosnian government was the aggressor in the war, shelling and sniping at its own civilians.
"Instead of being accused, I should have been rewarded for all the good things I have done. I did everything in human power to avoid the war. I succeeded in reducing the suffering of all civilians," he told the court at the start of his defence."Instead of being accused, I should have been rewarded for all the good things I have done. I did everything in human power to avoid the war. I succeeded in reducing the suffering of all civilians," he told the court at the start of his defence.
"I proclaimed numerous unilateral ceasefires and military containment. And I stopped our army many times when they were close to victory.""I proclaimed numerous unilateral ceasefires and military containment. And I stopped our army many times when they were close to victory."
Karadzic, a former psychiatrist, is on trial over alleged war crimes committed during the Bosnian war from 1992-1995 in which well over 100,000 people were killed and millions displaced. The former psychiatrist is on trial for alleged war crimes committed during the Bosnian war from 1992-1995 in which more than 100,000 people were killed and millions displaced.
Conducting his own defence, he added that Muslims had faked two shellings of a marketplace in Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, during a siege by Serb forces in which more than 100 people were killed. Conducting his own defence, he said Muslims had faked two shellings of a marketplace in Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, during a siege by Serb forces in which more than 100 people were killed.
He was finally arrested in 2008, after years spent in hiding, living in Belgrade in the guise of a new age health guru. After years spent in hiding, Karadzic was arrested in 2008 in Belgrade, where he was living in the guise of a new-age health guru.
Fiddling occasionally with his rimless glasses, Karadzic called as his first witness the former Russian chief of staff of the UN military mission's Sarajevo sector Colonel Andrei Demorenko who also provided a witness statement in a previous trial. Fiddling occasionally with his rimless glasses, Karadzic called as his first witness the former Russian chief of staff of the UN military mission's Sarajevo sector, Colonel Andrei Demorenko, who also provided a witness statement in a previous trial.
Echoing the claims of previous Serb defendants, Demorenko suggested a conspiracy existed among western UN officials, foreign journalists and the Bosnian government and its forces to demonise Serb forces and paint them as the aggressors.Echoing the claims of previous Serb defendants, Demorenko suggested a conspiracy existed among western UN officials, foreign journalists and the Bosnian government and its forces to demonise Serb forces and paint them as the aggressors.
At the centre of the first day's evidence offered by the defence was Karadzic and Demorenko's claim that the shelling of the Markale maketplace in February 1994, in which 68 people were killed and 144 were injured, was orchestrated by Bosnian forces as was a second attack a few days later. At the centre of the first day's evidence offered by the defence was Karadzic and Demorenko's claim that the shelling of the Markale marketplace in February 1994, in which 68 people were killed and 144 were injured, was orchestrated by Bosnian forces, as was a second attack a few days later.
They made the claim despite a previous tribunal, of Bosnian Serb General Stanislav Galic, which established that Bosnian Serb forces were responsible for the shelling. They made the claim despite a previous tribunal, of Bosnian Serb General Stanislav Galic, establishing that Bosnian Serb forces were responsible for the shelling.
In his statement Demorenko claimed that a Bosnian liaison officer threatened he would kill him when he gave a statement to the press contradicting the findings of two UN investigations that accused Serb forces of responsibility for the marketplace bombings.In his statement Demorenko claimed that a Bosnian liaison officer threatened he would kill him when he gave a statement to the press contradicting the findings of two UN investigations that accused Serb forces of responsibility for the marketplace bombings.
He added he did not recognise the picture of Sarajevo under siege by the Serbs presented by the western media and military officials whom he accused of spreading "rumours". He said he did not recognise the picture of Sarajevo under siege by the Serbs presented by the western media and military officials whom he accused of spreading "rumours".