An appeals hearing in the case against Radovan Karadzic, a former President of the Republika Srpska entity during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted of war crimes, began on Monday before the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (MICT).

The hearing began by the opening remarks of Judge Theodor Meron, the presiding judge in the case, after which Karadzic and the Prosecution are expected to present their oral arguments on the appeal.

MICT said that Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), convicted Radovan Karadzic for genocide, the crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war committed by Serb forces during the armed conflict in Bosnia, in its 2016 verdict. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Karadzic was found guilty of genocide in Srebrenica in 1995, for persecution, extermination, murder, deportation, inhumane acts (forcible transfer), terrorism, unlawful attacks against civilians, and hostage taking. At the same time, he was acquitted of charges of genocide in other municipalities in BiH during 1992.

The Court concluded that Karadzic had committed these crimes through involvement in four joint criminal enterprises.

The trial against Karadzic began in October 2009 and lasted for a total of 499 court days, during which some 11,500 pieces of evidence were accepted by the Court.

The UN Security Council established the MICT in December 2010 for the implementation of several basic functions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and ICTY, after their mandates had ended, including the ending of a limited number of cases inherited from the work of these two courts.

Judge Meron said that a final ruling on the appeals could be expected in December this year.

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