Lawyers for Croatian Serb war crimes suspect Goran Hadzic say he could be transferred to a detention facility in the Netherlands as early as Friday. Suspects appearing before the UN International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague are held in nearby Scheveningen prison.

Mr Hadzic was arrested on Wednesday in northern Serbia, seven years after the ICTY issued a 14-count indictment against the former leader of the ‘Serbian Republic of Krajina’ (a self-styled Serb entity within Croatia).

Massacre
The charges include crimes against humanity, war crimes and extermination. He has been held responsible for numerous atrocities during the Yugoslavian wars, including the 1991 massacre of 250 civilians in a hospital in Vukovar.

His lawyers say he has renounced his right to file an appeal against the ruling by a Serbian court allowing him to be sent to The Hague to stand trial. The exact time of the transfer has been kept secret due to security considerations.

The arrest of Mr Hadzic is a milestone for the Yugoslavia tribunal, as he was the last remaining fugitive wanted for war crimes committed during the 1991-1995 Croatian war of independence.

(jc/mw)

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