Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic. Photo / Reuters
SARAJEVO - Bosnia's top international envoy ordered on Thursday the seizure of travel documents from members of Radovan Karadzic's family, on suspicion of helping Bosnia's top war crimes suspect evade capture.
"The order was issued at the request of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
and in close cooperation with relevant local law enforcement agencies," Miroslav Lajcak said in a statement.
The measure applies to Karadzic's wife Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic, son Aleksandar, daughter Sonja Karadzic-Jovicevic and son-in-law Branislav Jovicevic.
"These four persons are ... the subject of orders by the state court, a decision by the council of ministers, international financial and travel sanctions and ongoing criminal investigations for their role in the support network of Radovan Karadzic," he said.
Separately on Thursday, the central cabinet decided to freeze assets of four remaining fugitives from the Hague-based court - Karadzic, his military chief Ratko Mladic, Stojan Zupljanin and Goran Hadzic. The measure will be implemented over the next 12 months.
Karadzic and Mladic have been charged with genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of some 8000 Muslim men and boys and the 1992-95 Sarajevo siege in which about 11,000 people were killed.
Zupljanin was charged in 1999 with crimes against Muslims and Croats in western Bosnia early in the 1992-95 Bosnian war. Hadzic, a Croatian Serb leader, has also been indicted by the ICTY.
The Bosnian Serb Republic police confirmed they had taken away personal and travel documents from members of the Karadzic family. "The move will prevent them from leaving the country," said Tamara Despenic, an Interior Ministry spokeswoman.
She added that Bosnian security agencies, as well as those in neighbouring countries, had been informed about the measure.
Family members living in the Bosnian Serb wartime stronghold of Pale, 16 km (10 miles) east of the capital Sarajevo, have denied any contacts with Karadzic since 2002.
But international officials say evidence collected from their homes indicates such contacts have continued.
Nato and the European Union peacekeepers have raided the homes of Karadzic's family members several times and seized documents. The last such raid was two months ago.
After Aleksandar Karadzic was detained by Nato in 2005, his mother publicly urged Radovan Karadzic to voluntarily surrender for the sake of the family.
- REUTERS
