12 Jul 2013

Karadzic genocide charge reinstated

11:09 am on 12 July 2013

A genocide charge against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has been reinstated at the United Nations Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

The charge was dismissed by judges in June last year for lack of evidence.

The decision means Karadzic now faces 11 charges, including a further charge of genocide for the Srebrenica massacre.

More than 7500 Muslim men and boys died in the enclave in July 1995.

The BBC reports it was the worst atrocity in Europe since the end of World War II.

Before Thursday's ruling, Karadzic was on trial for 10 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

They include accusations that he orchestrated the shelling of Sarajevo and used 284 UN peacekeepers as human shields in May and June 1995.

The BBC reports Karadzic was arrested in 2008 after 13 years as a wanted man. He was living in disguise in Belgrade, under a false name and working as a New Age healer.