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28/10/2009

Michael Buerk chairs a debate on the moral questions behind the week's news. Claire Fox, Melanie Phillips, Michael Portillo and Matthew Taylor cross-examine witnesses.

The war crimes trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has opened at the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He faces 11 counts of genocide, including complicity in the Srebrenica massacre in which 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed. It was one of the worst acts of atrocity in Europe since the Second World War. But is what we are about to see justice or revenge - A show trial organised by the victors, with TV coverage broadcast throughout the world, and eagerly viewed, especially in the Balkans. Can there ever be any morally certain and globally acceptable definition of what constitutes a war crime or will pragmatism and real politique always get in the way?

Witnesses:
John Laughland
Author of Travesty: The Trial of Slobodan Milosevic and the Corruption of International Justice, and
A History of Political Trials from Charles I to Saddam Hussein.

Geoffrey Nice
The British QC who led the prosecution of the Serbian leader Slobodan Milosovic

Professor David Chandler
Professor of International Relations at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster and editor of the Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding

Mark Ellis
Executive Director, International Bar Association.

45 minutes

Last on

Sat 31 Oct 2009 22:15

Broadcasts

  • Wed 28 Oct 2009 20:00
  • Sat 31 Oct 2009 22:15

The Evidence Toolkit

The Evidence Toolkit

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