Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who is on trial for genocide, has said he regrets going into politics.

In an exclusive e-mail interview with RNW, Mr Karadzic wrote: "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."

Radovan Karadzic has been detained in The Hague and is being tried before the Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on charges including genocide. He is not allowed face-to-face contact with journalists, which is why RNW opted for an e-mail interview.

Mr Karadzic appears convinced that he will one day return to Serbia.

"Not 'if' I were released, but 'when' I will be released [...] I would return to Republika Srpska, but I would also like to spend time in Serbia and Montenegro."

The trial against Radovan Karadzic in The Hague has been suspended for seven weeks from 21 March to give Karadzic extra time to go through 32,000 pages of new material in the case.

(rk/ae)

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Link: Radovan Karadzic interview