The World and I
Asti's musings on the (non)functioning world
Karadzic Behind Bars - What now?
I was probably as surprised as anyone at the news that one
of the world's most notorious criminals has finally been put behind
bars. More surprising perhaps was his appearance and the fact that
he has actually been living the life as a practicing doctor in the
open, which included attending conferences, writing a column in a
medical magazine and what is more he was living in the middle of
Belgrade as opposed to in a Monastery as some predicted.
What does his arrest mean, especially for Serbia? Although
there are many Serbs who are not in agreement with his arrest (as
the protests have shown) it is actually extremely beneficial for a
country, who will now be able to close one chapter of history and
move one. Of course this also depends on the successful arrest of
Mladic, however, analysts predict now that Karadzic is behind bars
this will shortly follow.
One of the conditions of Serbia entering negotiations to join
the EU is the arrest of these two men, however, Serbia until now
was very reluctant to give them up. Time was pressing though, since
if they had not been caught by the 31st of December 2008, they
could not be tried in
The Hague, but rather in national courts, where
the sentencing would have been much milder to say the least.
Whilst many Serbians are not happy with the arrest, they
should be able to get over it soon as this opens up whole new doors
and therefore opportunities for Serbia and its citizens, especially
in the form of active negotiations with the EU, which have already
been announced. For the Bosnian Muslims who lost so much during the
war, can now hope for justice.
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