Bosnia War Criminal Karadzic arrested in Belgrade

BELGRADE, Serbia (CNN) — Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic was so convinced of his disguise he regularly contributed to a health magazine as he brazenly built up his profile as an alternative medical practitioner, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

As Serbian authorities announced the arrest of Karadzic, 63, on charges of war crimes committed during the brutal Balkans conflict, details of his life during more than a decade on the run were revealed.

Goran Kojic, editor in chief of Serbia’s “Healthy Magazine” released new images of the former leader hidden behind an enormous white beard, long hair and spectacles, identifying one of the world’s most wanted men as a regular contributor.

“It never even occurred to me that this man with a long white beard and hair was Karadzic,” a shocked Kojic said, according to The Associated Press.

Serb authorities said Karadzic — accused of ordering the deadly siege of Sarajevo and some of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II including the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica — was working at a medical practice in Belgrade prior to his arrest.

At a news conference in Belgrade on Tuesday, authorities displayed another recent picture of Karadzic that showed him with short white hair, a long white beard and glasses. Before he went on the run, Karadzic was clean-shaven with a mop of salt-and-pepper hair.

Serbian minister Rasim Ljajic told Tuesday’s news conference that Karadzic, 63, was using false documents giving him the name of “Dragan Dabic” and a non-Serbian identity at the time of arrest.

“It wasn’t expected at all that this would ever happen to Radovan Karadzic — that he would ever be caught in this way,” said Ljajic, president of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.

A judge now has three days to prepare for his transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at the Hague, and Karadzic has the right to appeal that transfer within those three days, Vukcevic added. 

The capture of the so-called “Butcher of Bosnia” has been hailed as a landmark for international justice and for Serbia, whose new government has pledged to bring its wanted war criminals to justice as a condition of membership of the European Union.

“We understand that there is an absolute determination by the state to finish this job,” prosecutor Vukcevic said.

Karadzic’s arrest earlier drew jubilation in the streets of Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, which Bosnian Serb forces had shelled heavily during the war, and a small protest from ultra Serb nationalists in front of Belgrade’s heavily guarded war crimes court.

His lawyer, Sveta Vujacic, said there were concerns over Karadzic’s arrest and treatment, accusing authorities of violating the law by blindfolding him and holding him in a room.

He disputed official statements that Karadzic was captured on Monday, insisting his client was arrested Friday and held for three days before the announcement was made.

Karadzic’s brother Luka told reporters that he had seen the former leader in custody.

“Karadzic is in good health. He has lost a lot of weight, he is full of optimism,” he said.

Karadzic — last seen in public in 1996 — was the Bosnian Serb political leader during the 1992-1995 war that followed Bosnia-Herzegovina’s secession from Yugoslavia.

While president of the so-called Serbian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Karadzic’s troops were reported to have massacred hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Croats during a campaign of “ethnic cleansing.”

Early estimates of the death toll from the 3-year war ranged up to 300,000, but recent research reduced that to about 100,000.

Vladimir Petrovic, the charge d’affairs at the Serbian Embassy in Washington, said the arrest showed his country’s commitment to accounting for its past.

“I think this is an example that the Serbian government is committed to all its international obligations and that it will continue cooperation with the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,” Petrovic said.

EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana said: “I think it is very important that Radovan Karadzic will be in front of International Tribunal having a fair trial.”

Karadzic’s arrest leaves former Gen. Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military commander, as the top-ranking war crimes suspect still at large.

“While this is an important milestone, the work of the International Tribunal will not be complete until all fugitives have been arrested and tried,” a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said.

“Today, I can tell you that I feel kind of good,” said Zlatko Lagumdzija, a former Bosnian prime minister wounded during the siege. He said the arrest could offer “a chance for new thinking” in Bosnia, still grappling with the scars of war.

Karadzic, a one-time psychiatrist and self-styled poet, declared himself president of a Bosnian Serb republic when Bosnia-Herzegovina seceded from Yugoslavia in 1992.

The Bosnian Serbs, backed by the Serb-dominated Yugoslav military and paramilitary forces, quickly seized control of most of the country and laid siege to Sarajevo, the capital.

During the conflict that followed, the Serb forces launched what they called the “ethnic cleansing” of the territories under their control — the forced displacement and killings of Muslims and Croats.

He was removed from power in 1995, when the Dayton Accords that ended the Bosnian war barred anyone accused of war crimes from holding office.

But he remained “kind of a Robin Hood” to Serbs during more than a decade as a fugitive, said former U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, one of the architects of the Dayton Accords.