Judges: Karadzic trial could take extra 2 years

Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) warned Friday that Radovan Karadzic's genocide trial could stretch into 2014 - two years longer than expected - if prosecutors and the former Bosnian Serb leader did not speed up the case.

Karadzic's American lawyer said the landmark trial could last even longer than that and urged judges to slash away a major part of the indictment if they want to rein in the case against the accused, who faces 11 charges, including two counts of genocide, for allegedly masterminding Serb atrocities throughout the Bosnian war.

The forecasts came at a hearing to discuss ways of speeding up what is shaping up to be the U.N. court's longest and most complex case, even as the Security Council is pressing the Tribunal to complete all trials and close its doors permanently as soon as possible. Karadzic, who for more than a decade was a fugitive from justice and then boycotted the start of the trial last year, has refused to enter pleas but insists he is innocent.

Judges placed the blame for the slow progress largely with Karadzic, saying he often takes three times longer to cross-examine witnesses as prosecutors take to question them, and he peppers his questions with political rhetoric.

Karadzic underscored the core of the problem on Friday when he veered off into a discussion of the formation of post-World War II Yugoslavia, whose break-up with the fall of communism sparked ethnic conflict throughout the region.

"The history or name of the region is a good example," presiding judge O-Gon Kwon rebuked him. "You are needlessly using time making comments, asking questions that are irrelevant."

The judges made no immediate decisions on how to streamline the case.

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