Hardliners rally against Karadzic transfer

Karadzic, 63, is battling to stall his transfer to a UN war crimes court in The Hague following his capture in the Serbian capital around a week ago after more than a decade on the run.

The wartime Bosnian Serb leader stands indicted of playing a leading role in the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre of Muslim men and boys, Europe’s bloodiest atrocity since World War II.

The rally has been organized by the hardline Radical Party and backed by the party of former nationalist prime minister Vojislav Kostunica, both sidelined after May 11 elections.

But unusually for such protests, there were few signs of any people being bussed in to the city centre only a couple of hours before the protest was due to start at 7:00 pm (1700 GMT).

Karadzic’s appeal against his transfer, apparently sent at the last minute on Friday, had not arrived by the end of the day, said Ivana Ramic, the spokeswoman for its intended recipients at Serbia’s war crimes court.

Once it is received, a three-judge panel of the court has three days to decide on its merits before the justice ministry must issue a final order for the transfer.

But Dusan Ignjatovic, head of the Serbian government office for cooperation with the UN tribunal, expressed doubts about the authenticity of the appeal, which Karadzic’s brother Luka has said was sent by regular mail.

Ignjatovic told Tanjug news agency he now expected Karadzic to be extradited to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) by the end of the week.

"I think there is no appeal, because if it had been filed, it would have arrived at the court by now," he was quoted as saying.

"It is the defenses right to use such tactics and protect the right of the defendant in the best possible way."

Meanwhile, pro-Western President Boris Tadic hit back Tuesday at rally organizers who have said the protest was against his "treacherous and dictatorial regime," according to local news agencies.

Tadic said war crimes arrests were an obligation under Serbian law on cooperation with ICTY, a precondition for Serbia’s integration with the European Union.

Beta news agency quoted Tadic as saying that, for him, "it was incredible that people protest against respecting the law."

"The citizens of Serbia know that all those who want to destabilize the country with riots, beatings of journalists (and) threats to politicians lead us nowhere," Tanjug news agency quoted him as saying.

"I support the right to demonstrate and express opposite opinions, since we live in democracy, but here, order will be respected."

Organizers expected the protest in Belgrade’s main Republic Square to be the biggest in the city since February. Then, 150,000 protested Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia in a rally at another location that sparked attacks on Western embassies.

Karadzic was arrested on July 21 while on a suburban bus in Belgrade, after more than a decade on the run disguised as a specialist in "human quantum energy."

He had vanished from public life in 1996, shortly after the ICTY issued an arrest warrant for him.

While in hiding, he completely changed his appearance and identity, styling himself as Doctor Dragan Dabic, sporting large spectacles, long white hair and a bushy beard.

Serbian state TV showed footage of Karadzic in his disguise as a health guru, milling with dozens of unsuspecting participants at a private celebration on June 22, at times furtively turning away from the camera.

But in his prison cell, Karadzic cut a "calm and sad" figure, according to the daily Vecernje Novosti, citing close family members who added he had requested books including William Shakespeares "sonnets."

Photo: AFP