By Kenneth F. Hunt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) denied Radovan Karadzic’s appeal of a court-ordered appointment of an attorney to defend him in his impending war crimes case.

Mr. Karadzic, the former leader of Bosnian Serbs, requested that the ICTY, the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal sitting in The Hague, allow him to replace his British court-appointed attorney, Richard Harvey, with a lawyer of his own “heritage and language”. Mr. Harvey became Mr. Karadzic’s attorney in November 2009 when Karadzic boycotted court proceedings and insisted on defending himself.

Mr. Karadzic alleged that he had the right to “legal assistance of his own choosing” under the Statute of the ICTY Article 21(4)(d) and under ICTY case law.

The ITCY, in a written opinion, dismissed the appeal “in its entirety” noting that “[t]he right to self-represent[ation] is not absolute and may be subject to certain limitations.” As such, Mr. Karadzic’s “persistent obstructive behaviour has made it necessary, in the interests of justice, to limit his right to self-representation by assigning counsel to represent his interests.”

Mr. Karazdic’s trial will resume on March 1, assuming no more appeal delays occur, in order to give Mr. Harvey ample time to prepare a defense. The ITCY wants to strictly comply with this trial date so as to avoid a repeat of the situation surrounding former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s trial. Mr. Milosevic died in his jail cell during the fourth year of his extended trial.

When it resumes, Mr. Karadzic will face eleven charges of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity for his role in the wars in Bosnia of the early 1990’s. Karadzic will likely face life in prison, especially if convicted of these crimes, which include a major role in the Srebrenica massacre that left 7,000 Bosnian Muslims dead.

According to Jurist, Mr. Karadzic’s trial will be the ITCY’s last.

For more inforation, please see:

BBC – Karadzic lawyer appeal rejected by ICTY – 12 February 2010

JURIST – ICTY dismisses Karadzic appeal of court-appointed lawyer – 12 February 2010

REUTERS – War crimes court rejects Karadzic appeal on lawyer – 12 February 2010

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

YEKATERINBURG, Russia – An elderly man in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg was allegedly attacked and robbed by local police officers after being unable to produce identification.

Sergei Beloglazov, 62, was returning to his home from a supermarket when he was stopped by a police officer.  The officer demanded identification from Beloglazov.  When Beloglazov informed the officer that he did not have identification with him, the policeman proceeded to push Beloglazov to the ground and kicked him repeatedly.  He was then placed under arrest and placed in jail.  Russian citizens are required by law to have their identification papers on them at all times.

The story of Beloglazov’s attack was made public after the story was reported by a blogger on a social-networking website.  The day after the assault Beloglazov, who is a classical pianist and professor at Ural State University, filed a complaint with the local prosecutor Yury Ponomarev.  In the aftermath of the story breaking nationally, local police authorities promised to investigate the attack.  Ponomarev has assured the public that “if the police officers are guilty, the head of the Interior Ministry administration will sign an order for the police officers to be called to disciplinary account.”  As a result of the attack, Beloglazov has lost movement in his hands.

The police officers allegedly involved in the attack have been charged with exceeding their official authority through the use of violence, a charge punishable by up to ten years in prison.

The attack on Beloglazov marks that latest in a string of police brutality incidents in Russia within the last year.  Moscow police officer Denis Yevsyukov, who had been drinking while working, shot and killed three people in a city supermarket this past spring.  This most recent attack has inflamed public outcry on the issues of police brutality and corruption in local and national police forces.

For more information, please see:

RADIO FREE EUROPE – Controversy Brewing Over Police Beating Of Elderly Russian Pianist – 11 February 2010

BBC – Russia probes ‘police beating’ of pianist – 10 February 2010

THE OTHER RUSSIA – Charges Filed Against Police for Beating Composer – 10 February 2010

NEWS 24 – Cop beating of pianist probed – 10 February 2010

By Kenneth F. Hunt

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SHALI, Russia – Police in a Shali, a small town in the Republic of Chechnya in Russia, “arbitrarily” detained three human rights activists overnight on Sunday February 7.

According to Human Rights Watch, the three men were questioned separately through the night, not given access to an attorney, and allowed to make phone calls to human rights colleagues outside of Chechnya. Although the men were never under arrest, they were not allowed to leave the Shani precinct.

According to Aleksandr Cherkasov of Memorial Human Rights Center, a rights watchdog based in Moscow, claims that activists were not provided with an explanation for the basis of their detention.

Allegedly, the activists were detained because they met with a Shali citizen who had pertinent information about a local abduction victim. But no official explanation for the detention has yet been given. Moreover, Shanli police did not officially process any of the detentions.

The three prominent activists, Dmitry Yegoshin, Roman Veretennikov, and Vladislav Sadykov, were involved in an investigation of numerous abductions and killings of Chechens over the past years.  In particular, the activists were investigating the abduction and murder of Natalya Estemirova, a member of a Memorial branch in Chechnya. Ms. Estemirova was abducted by unidentified masked kidnappers. Her body was found dead in a vehicle that was shot at and struck dozens of times.

Human rights groups, including Memorial, claim that Ramzan Kadyrov, the President of the Republic of Chechnya, ordered Ms. Estemirova’s kidnapping and killing. Mr. Kadyrov has since dismissed these allegations as “slanderous”.

Human rights activists have accused Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov of ordering kidnappings and murders in the republic. Kadyrov has dismissed the allegations, calling them slanderous.

International human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Front Line, and Human Rights Watch, have since released a statement to probe the detentions further.

The groups decried the detentions as continuing examples of Russian impunity. Specifically, Holly Cartner, the Europe and Central Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, said that “[t]his arbitrary detention clearly demonstrates that the Chechen law enforcement agencies continue harassing human rights defenders despite Prime Minister Putin’s recent call for a healthy working environment for human rights groups.”

For more information, please see:

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH – Watchdogs Call For Probe Into Chechen Detentions – 09 February 2010

MOSCOW TIMES – Rights Activists Detained in Chechnya – 09 February 2010

RADIO FREE EUROPE – Watchdogs Call For Probe Into Chechen Detentions – 09 February 2010

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch, Europe

BELGRADE, Serbia – Serbia’s parliament is considering the adoption of a long-awaited resolution whereby the Serbian government would officially condemn the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The speaker of the Serbian parliament, Slavica Đukić-Dejanović, said that the resolution should be ready by March, despite wrangling in the Serbian parliament over use of the term ‘genocide’ to describe the mass killings.

The massacre at Srebrenica is the largest mass-murder to have occurred in Europe since the end of the second world war. Despite its designation as a U.N. ‘safe-zone,’ Bosnian Serb forces under the command of General Ratko Mladić murdered roughly 8,000 Muslim men and boys at the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July of 1995. Mladić, wanted by the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for charges of genocide and war crimes, still remains at large.

The Srebrenica massacre was designated as a genocide by the ICTY and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In its ruling, the ICTY did not hold Serbia responsible for the genocide, but said that it was responsible for doing nothing to prevent the massacre.

In an interview with the newspaper Blic, Đukić-Dejanović said that sixty-seven percent of Serbians condemn the massacre. “It is our duty to respect their opinion and adopt a resolution [condemning the massacre]. I think it will be done between now and early March.”

Lawmakers in the ruling coalition are reportedly working on the text of the resolution. Opposition Liberal Democrats have singularly insisted that the term ‘genocide’ be used, while other parties have sought alternate terminology. The Serbian Progressive Party’s (SNS) deputy leader, Aleksandar Vučić, indicated that his party may not support a resolution incorporating the term ‘genocide.’

 When asked whether she would support a resolution incorporating the term ‘genocide,’ Đukić-Dejanović said that she would vote the way her parliamentary coalition voted, and that they were currently satisfied with the term ‘crime.’

 Nenad Prokić, of the Opposition Liberal Democratic Party, said:

 “We are the first country that is entering the EU with genocide in our suitcase – [a] limited territorial genocide. That is a very serious thing in a union based on peace…It is most important for us to recommend to our society and enter it into our schooling…so no one will ever do that in our name again.”

 For more information, please see:

B92 – Still no consensus on Srebrenica resolution – 8 February 2010

Blic – The adequate expression for Srebrenica is ‘crime’ – 8 February 2010

BSANNA – Resolution on Srebrenica to be adopted in early March – 8 February 2010

Javno – Serbian parliament to mull Srebrenica resolution – 8 February 2010