Journalists are not allowed to have face-to-face contact with Radovan Karadzic, but, in exclusive email correspondence, Karadzic told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that he is confident about winning his case in The Hague.

Last week, the former Bosnian Serb leader, who is being held in a UN prison in Scheveningen, was given extra time to go through 32,000 pages of new material in his war crimes trial.

Proceedings at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) will be suspended for seven weeks, from 21 March. Meanwhile, Karadzic answered some of the questions emailed to him by the Radio Netherlands Worldwide International Justice Desk.

Q: If you were found not guilty and released, would you return to Republika Srpska or Serbia?
A: Not “if” I were released, but “when” I will be released!
Yes, I would return to Republika Srpska, but I would also like to spend time in Serbia and Montenegro. Those are my countries. But this would likely be decided by my grandchildren and their educational needs.

Q: What kind of reception do you think you would receive if you went back to Republika Srpska or Serbia?
A: Those who loved me will still love me and those who hated me will still hate me.

Q: If you ended up a free man, would you return to politics?
A: That would be the last thing I would do. Politics took the most productive 20 years of my life. I could have written a few more novels and volumes of poetry during that period. I was reluctant to go into politics in the 1990s and would not do it again.

Q: Do you get many support letters or other signs of support, and from whom, usually?
A: Yes, I get letters and messages from all over the world – Serbs and non-Serbs alike. Some people are also kind enough to send me literature, poetry, and music.

Q: Do you get many angry or threatening letters, if so, from whom?
A: No, the UN Detention Unit protects me from those.

Q: Do you feel betrayed by “your country” and “your people”, since you were arrested by Serbian authorities?
A: No. Serbia never promised not to arrest me. I wished that Serbia had a ‘raison d’etat’ to have benefitted from my arrest, but it appears they didn’t get anything out of it.

Q: Do you regret not surrendering to the Tribunal sooner?
A: No. I regret that the Tribunal refused to honour the agreement I had with Richard Holbrooke that I would not be prosecuted.

Q: What do you think about the current policy of Republika Srpska officials, especially Milorad Dodik?
A: Although President Dodik was a political opponent when I was President of the Republika Srpska, President Dodik has now experienced the same fundamental dishonesty by Bosnian Muslim leaders that I experienced in the 1990s. The Muslims pretend to the international community to espouse a multi-ethnic society, while in fact manipulating the system by insisting to be the ones to choose the representatives from the other ethnic groups. I can only sympathize with President Dodik for the headaches that the job brings and pray that he will have the patience, wisdom and courage to hold onto the principles that we fought for. If he does, he will have the full support of the opposition.