Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is pictured in this video grab in the court room of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at the start of his initial appearance in The Hague July 31, 2008. [Photo: Reuters]
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said at the United Nations war crimes court Thursday that he is gravely concerned about his life because the United States might be seeking to "liquidate" him.
Karadzic, who appeared for the first time before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Thursday, told the judge that he had a deal with the United States before withdrawing from the public life in 1996.
He said Richard Holbrooke, the then U.S. assistant secretary of state, presented him with a deal, requesting him withdrawing entirely from the public life in return for a drop of efforts to prosecute him at the ICTY.
Holbrooke was the chief broker of a peace agreement among the warring factions in Bosnia that led to the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995.
Karadzic said he fulfilled his commitment and withdrew from the public life and did not do anything to endanger the implementation of the Dayton accord.
Karadzic said that it was because of the secret deal with Washington that he had not come to the court in The Hague any time earlier.
The 63-year-old former president of the self-proclaimed Bosnian Serb Republic said he is concerned that if Holbrooke's arm is long enough to reach the court, he might be "liquidated."
"I must say it is a matter of life and death," he said.
On Thursday, Presiding Judge Alphons Orie read out a summary of the indictment of Karadzic. Karadzic is accused of 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes of humanity during Bosnia's 1992- 1995 war.
Karadzic refused to enter a plea on each of the 11 charges against him. He said he would like to first study the new indictment which is being prepared by the prosecution before entering any plea.
ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said his team will try to get the amended indictment ready as soon as possible.
Karadzic said he would like to defend himself throughout the trial. "I would like to defend myself before the institution just as I would like to defend myself before any national catastrophe," he said.
Karadzic said he does not have any complaint with the treatment he received from the staff members of the court or the United Nations detention center in Scheveningen, where he is being held.
Judge Orie said the court is adjourned until Aug. 29, when Karadzic will be asked to enter pleas on the charges.
Karadzic was transferred to the ICTY in the early hours on Wednesday morning. He was arrested by Serbian authorities on July 21 after 12 years on the run.
Brammertz had said it will probably take months for the prosecution and the defense to get ready for Karadzic's trial.