Hadzic trial suspended indefinitely due to health reasons: ruling

The trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indefinitely halted the trial of former Croatian Serb politician Goran Hadzic, according to a ruling issued on Tuesday.

The trial chamber declared that the 57-year-old Hadzic, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in November 2014, was unfit to stand trial, that the present proceedings would be suspended indefinitely and the terms and conditions of the provisional release remained in effect.

Since October 2014, the trial chamber has repeatedly suspended proceedings due to the medical condition of Hadzic. In April 2015, he was granted a provisional release and on that date he moved back to his home town Novi Sad in Serbia.

The prosecution had requested that the trial be resumed whether or not Hadzic was present, while the defense requested the proceedings to be terminated or stayed indefinitely. In October last year, the trial chamber had ordered a stay of three months, which was extended in January this year.

"The trial chamber's finding that Hadzic is currently unfit to stand trial does not lead to the conclusion that the proceedings must be terminated," the chamber stated in its ruling on Tuesday.

Hadzic, former president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, is charged with crimes against humanity and of violation of the laws and customs of war in Croatia from June 1991 until at least December 1993 during the war in former Yugoslavia. He was arrested on July 20, 2011 and transferred to The Hague two days later.

The trial started on October 16, 2012, with the defense case beginning on July 3, 2014, until the adjournment of October that year. Enditem