Serbia arrests last war crimes fugitive, Goran Hadzic (VIDEO)
An officer guards the entrance to the war crimes court in Belgrade where the former Croatian Serb rebel leader, Goran Hadzic, stands on trial. Hadzic is the last of the war criminals wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal of the former Yugoslavia and faces 14 counts of crimes against humanity.
Serbia has arrested the last fugitive sought by the U.N. Balkan war crimes tribunal — former Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic — boosting the country's hopes of joining the European Union as a member state.
Hadzic, 52, is the last of the 161 people indicted by the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to be arrested and faces faces 14 counts of crimes against humanity, AFP reports. He is suspected in the murders of hundreds of people and deportation of tens of thousands Croats between 1992-1993.
His arrest comes less than two months after Serbian authorities finally captured wartime Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic, the court's most wanted fugitive.
(GlobalPost reports from Serbia: Serbs in shock over Ratko Mladic's arrest)
After intense international demands for his capture, Hadzic was arrested as he met a man delivering him money in a forest, authorities said. He had apparently been hiding out in the mountain region of Fruska Gora near the northern city of Novi Sad, northern Serbia. He was reportedly armed but did not resist.
Hadzic was brought in for questioning at the war crimes court in the Serbian capital Belgrade, before his extradition to the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
State TV footage showed a shaven, hunched-over Hadzic — who has dramatically changed his appearance — entering the courtroom escorted by guards, Forbes reports.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.