DEBORAH AMOS, host:
It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Deborah Amos in for Steve Inskeep.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
And I'm Renee Montagne.
The man accused of masterminding the worst massacre in Europe since World War II is now in a jail cell at The Hague. Radovan Karadzic is facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. Early today chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz stressed the significance of Karadzic's capture.
Mr. SERGE BRAMMERTZ (Prosecutor): The arrest of Radovan Karadzic is immensely important for the victims who had to wait far too long for this day. It's also very important for international justice, because it clearly demonstrates that there's no alternative to the arrest of war criminals and that there can be no safe haven for fugitives.
MONTAGNE: It was just before dawn that Karadzic was flown out of Serbia. The one-time leader of the Bosnian Serbs who led his followers into an ethnic war was arrested 10 days ago, and his extradition to The Hague came just hours after Karadzic's ultranationalist supporters held a stone-throwing protest in the center of Belgrade. Some wore T-shirts bearing the image of the man they believe is a war hero and shouted long live Radovan.
Stefan Niksic is editor of the weekly news magazine Nin, in Belgrade. He joined us to talk about Karadzic.
Remind us of what he did as president of a Bosnian Serb republic in the early '90s that led to these charges of crimes against humanity and genocide.
Mr. NIKSIC: In Bosnia we had a bloody war, the biggest massacre in Europe after the Second World War. But one has to be also precise about that. It is definitely established that number of victims in Bosnia is less than 100,000. That's the number of all victims from all ethnic groups in Bosnia.
So Karadzic is indicted and definitely responsible for big massacres in Bosnia, but he certainly is not responsible for, as it was mentioned these days, for 300,000 lives.
MONTAGNE: What are the several events that stick out within the broad outlines of this war for which Mr. Karadzic is being held responsible?
Mr. NIKSIC: I think it's a siege of Sarajevo, first of all, and then massacre in Srebrenica. This is definitely the case of genocide committed by the soldiers of the Bosnian Serb army, and Mr. Karadzic must be responsible for whatever was happened there.
MONTAGNE: That massacre you speak of, just to be clear, that was of somewhere between seven and eight thousand Muslim men and boys...
Mr. NIKSIC: Yes.
MONTAGNE: ...in a single event, and Mr. Karadzic is accused of masterminding or orchestrating that event.
Mr. NIKSIC: He was political leader, to be quite frank. And so he is responsible at least indirectly, or it's up to the court to establish exactly the nature of his responsibility. But there is also another figure, which is General Ratko Mladic, who was military commander of the Serb military forces on the ground who are responsible for actual committing of these crimes.
MONTAGNE: And then Ratko Mladic is still at large.
Mr. NIKSIC: He is still at large. And we know...
MONTAGNE: Do you expect him to be captured?
Mr. NIKSIC: Well, if he is located and found, then definitely. I mean, one thing is for sure, by arrestment of Radovan Karadzic in Belgrade, at least the authorities in Serbia have proven that they're serious. And they do not have any single reason to hide Karadzic or whoever.
MONTAGNE: For years there was talk of a Serbian denial of war crimes committed by some of their leaders in Bosnia during the 1990s. Does the arrest of Radovan Karadzic mean that Serbs themselves are facing up to what was done in their name, if not by them?
Mr. NIKSIC: Well, whoever committed those crimes in those days, certainly he acted as if he was doing that in our name, in the name of Serb nation. But that certainly isn't right. And I would say that we should look on the situation as it is today on the ground. The Bosnian Serb leaders in this moment are also very much in favor of cooperation with The Hague tribunal, with facing the responsibility of all the war crimes. They also now have admitted that it was a genocide committed in Srebrenica. So I think it's in everybody's interest in this moment to close this book, to put all those responsible on trial and to go further. I mean, to look into the future.
MONTAGNE: Thank you very much for joining us.
Mr. NIKSIC: You're welcome.
MONTAGNE: That's Stefan Niksic. He's editor of the weekly news magazine Nin in Belgrade, from where Radovan Karadzic was flown to The Hague earlier today. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
MONTAGNE: Thank you very much for joining us.
Mr. NIKSIC: You're welcome.
MONTAGNE: We've been talking to Stefan Niksic. He's editor of the weekly news magazine Nin in Belgrade, from where Radovan Karadzic was flown to The Hague a few hours ago.
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