KARADŽIĆ IN BRITISH PRISON AS IN MEDIEVAL DUNGEON

BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 20 /SRNA/ - The first President of Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadžić, is subjected to perfidious torture and serious discrimination; he is denied many rights, and the conditions in the prison in Great Britain are like those in a medieval dungeon or like those for former Turkish slaves in the Rumelia fortress, lawyer Goran Petronijević told SRNA.

"The inhumane treatment of Karadžić continues in the British prison. Some measures have been eased a little compared to the previous ones, but he is still there under very bad conditions," said Petronijević. Petronijević said that he had received a phone call from Karadžić last night but that they were unable to make contact because the connection was being cut off, and assessed that it was a type of subversion. "I saw the number from which Karadžić called me from England, which I have saved in my phone. Of course, I answered, but he didn't hear my voice at all. He tried once, twice... I could hear him, but he couldn't hear me. And we didn't manage to make contact," said Petronijević. He assessed that it was a type of subversion, probably, with the explanation that it was "about technical conditions," which is almost impossible. "The conditions in the prison are the same as before, except that they allowed him these telephone contacts, which are now being obstructed. He is subjected to serious torture and discrimination there," warned Petronijević. He said that by Karadžić's voice, he could say that he was very upset last night. "And that really upset me, honestly, but I don't have any contact options, except for his phone calls to me," added Petronijević. Petronijević pointed out that Karadžić was denied many rights in the prison on the Isle of Wight, including the right to use the Serbian language, the media in his own language, to exercise his religious rights, and for a long time he was also prohibited from telephone conversations. "He is at the same level as when the Turks took slaves from here to the Rumelia fortress and for 20 years no one even knew if they were alive. Literally! We know he is alive if he calls, and that's it," pointed out Petronijević. He has said that the legal team hired Mladen Kesar, a lawyer of Serbian origin from London, and his office to represent Karadžić in connection with discrimination in prison. According to Great Britain's laws, Petronijević noted, that country is obliged to finance the process of protecting the rights of prisoners. Petronijević has said that a request for financing that process was submitted to a court in order to prove that Karadžić was discriminated against, and that a negative decision was waited for 70 days instead of the usual 30. "They denied him both funding and the opportunity to turn to an English court and prove the violation of his prison rights," Petronijević pointed out. He noted that the Hague Tribunal, i.e. the Mechanism, is also aware of this and that reports about it are constantly sent to the presiding judge Graciela Gatti Santana, but so far without results. Petronijević has said that he does not expect anything from the authorities of Great Britain, except for the continuation or reinforcement of the torture. "When /Karadžić/ was under those restrictive measures, they cited his evident influence as a reason. They said that he had influence on public opinion, even claiming that in his telephone conversations he publicly expressed support, as they said, for Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Pay attention to what they associate him with!? What nonsense. The man is in prison, taking care of his problems," Petronijević said. He has said that the lawyer Kesar made several contacts with Karadžić via video link, but he could not visit him in an attempt to exercise the right to appear as his representative before a court in Great Britain in the case of violation of prison rights. "It is a vile, perfidious torture that is perpetrated against him on a daily basis," Petronijević stressed. Petronijević noted that Britons are constantly saying that Karadzić needs to serve his sentence in accordance with their law, which is not disputable, but the problem is that they undertook an obligation to ensure that prison conditions for him meet the standards demanded by the Hague Tribunal. "It is not disputable that he is serving his sentence in accordance with Great Britain's laws, but you undertook the obligation by signing an agreement with the Secretariat of the Hague Tribunal, in fact with the UN, to provide the conditions that The Hague requires. And they do not have that, especially in the prison on the Isle of Wight. It's a medieval dungeon!" emphasized Petronijević. In 2021, Radovan Karadžić was transferred to Great Britain, where he is serving a life in prison on the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, according to war crimes verdict handed down by the ICTY.