Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic arrested in Belgrade
Updated on 22 July 2008
The Bosnian Serb leader accused of persecution and genocide Radovan Karadzic is arrested, after roaming free for over a decade.
Arrested by Serbian security officers on a bus in Belgrade yesterday afternoon, Radovan Karadzic's 11 year flight from international justice has finally come to an end.
The capture of the former Bosnian Serb leader, indicted by the UN for war crimes and genocide, caused jubilation in Sarajevo and was hailed a milestone by the International Criminal Court.
This morning officials in Belgrade said Karadzic had been working as a doctor in an alternative medicine clinic and using a physical disguise so persuasive he was able to walk around Belgrade freely.
Serb President Boris Tadic made the announcement on Monday night.
Serbian government sources Karadzic had been under surveillance in Serbia for several weeks. Karadzic's lawyer told reporters that he was detained on Friday night while taking a bus between two suburbs of Belgrade.
Along with Bosnian Serb army commander General Ratko Mladic, Karadzic was indicted for genocide at Srebrenica where, in July 1995, some 8,000 unarmed Bosnian Muslim males were rounded up and murdered, then bulldozed into mass graves.
Karadzic is also charged with authorising the shooting of civilians during the siege of Sarajevo.
