Eurasia Press & News
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Bosnia’s top peace envoy Miroslav Lajcak lifted a travel ban for the family of Bosnian Serb former leader Radovan Karadzic, who was extradited to The Hague war crimes tribunal on Wednesday after 11 years on run.
The travel documents of Karadzic’s wife, son, daughter and son-in-law were seized in January as part of an effort to choke off Karadzic’s support network.
Lajcak originally refused to return the documents to them after Karadzic’s arrest in Belgrade last week, fearing their visit could jeopardize his prosecution or the arrest of the remaining suspects.
But his office now said he “concluded that the reasons for the seizure of the travel documents … no longer apply”.
“They will be entitled to have their travel documents, including identity cards, returned to them. This decision shall have immediate effect. Restrictions against other persons remain in effect,” Lajcak’s office said in a statement.
Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic are indicted for genocide over the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims. Mladic and one other war crimes suspect are still at-large.
The Interior Ministry of the Serb Republic said it has already ordered its office in Pale, near Sarajevo, to return travel documents to the Karadzic family. A ministry official said they do not have passports.
