Prosecutors of the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia have submitted a motion to amend the indictment against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.
The amended indictment, released on Tuesday in The Hague, contains 11 charges against Karadzic, the same number as in the operative indictment. But the charges have been re-structured.
The genocide count has been split into two counts, one for an alleged 1992 campaign of ethnic cleansing against Muslims and Croats in Bosnia and the other for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which 8,000 Muslim men and boys are thought to be killed.
Under the amended indictment, Karadzic is no longer charged with complicity in genocide. Charges for breach of the Geneva Convention has also been dropped.
Notably, the number of municipalities where Karadzic allegedly committed crimes has been reduced from 41 to 27, which means much fewer witnesses will be summoned.
The prosecutors hope that the streamlined indictment can help speed up the trial of Karadzic.
"As the proposed indictment is narrower than the operative indictment, it will contribute to a more efficient and expeditious presentation of the prosecution's case," reads the motion, which is carried on the official website of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
"As it is more precise, with additional particulars, it will also assist the accused in understanding the prosecution's case against him, and in preparing an effective defense; and will help to ensure that the real issues in the case will be determined," reads the motion.
Karadzic has the right to enter new pleas of not guilty to the amended indictment if judges decide to accept the amended indictment in the first place. Karadzic refused to plead to the operative indictment last month.
Karadzic was first indicted in 1995 by the ICTY and the original indictment was amended in 2000. Karadzic was transferred to the ICTY after his arrest in July 2008 in a suburb of Belgrade after almost 13 years in hiding.
In his initial appearances at the court, Karadzic has branded the UN tribunal as a "NATO court" that aims to liquidate him.
Source:Xinhua
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