UN Tribunal orders arrest of former Bosnian Serb PM

Judges at the UN Yugoslav Tribunal in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for a former prime minister of Bosnia’s Republika Srpska for contempt of court.

Branko Djeric, prime minister of the breakaway republic in 1992, was called by judges to appear as a witness in the trial of Momcilo Krajisnik yesterday.

He did not show up or explain why he could not come.

The court said it had “directed Bosnian authorities to detain and transfer him” to The Hague to face contempt charges.

Presiding Judge Alphons Orie said that Djeric had been warned that deliberate failure to appear could lead to a possible prison term of up to seven years or a fine of up to €100,000.

Krajisnik is on trial for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity.

The former speaker of the Bosnian Serb parliament, he was considered the right-hand man of former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic during the 1991-1995 Bosnian war, which left an estimated 200,000 people dead.