Evil ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ warlord sues ‘inhumane’ UK prison for £50k because he can’t use his LAPTOP
JAILED war criminal Radovan Karadzic is suing the Government claiming he suffers inhumane treatment — as he’s not allowed a laptop in his cell.
The tyrant, dubbed The Butcher of Bosnia, wants £50,000 for human rights breaches.
He claims he has also been banned from communicating in his native Serbian and denied food needed to control his diabetes.
Former Bosnian Serb leader Karadzic, 79, is in Albany prison on the Isle of Wight having been convicted in 2019 of genocide against Croats and Muslims during the Balkans War.
His crimes against humanity included ordering the killings of up to 8,000 men and boys following the 44-month siege of Srebenica in 1995.
Karadzic was jailed for 40 years at the International Criminal Court in The Hague but that was later upped to a whole life term.
He started his sentence in the Netherlands but was transferred in 2021 because the UK is one of the countries which signed up to detain war criminals.
Last week he appeared in court via video link to sue Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood.
If he is successful taxpayers will be lumbered with the bill, plus thousands more in legal costs.
Sporting a bushy white beard Karadzic — also known as Mad Rad — bleated his list of concerns to a judge at Central London county court.
Representing himself, he said he was denied visits from his friends and family.
He added: “My people cannot visit me. This is unbelievable.
“There are 80 prisons in the UK which approve computers in rooms. Why isn’t this prison doing this?”
Karadzic applied for more time to draft the details of his case, blaming delays on the lack of regular access to a laptop.
Rowan Clapp, the Secretary of State’s barrister, advised against the move, claiming Karadzic had honed his legal skills at his mammoth war crimes trial.
He said: “Karadzic represented himself for four years at the international court and is capable of doing so in these proceedings.”
Judge Leon Pickering gave him until early October to draft his case and serve “particulars of claim” on the Government.
He said: “I will grant his application and give him some time to formulate his claim.”
Addressing Karadzic directly, he told him: “Eight weeks is plenty of time to formulate the factual aspects of your claim. I am giving you another eight weeks acknowledging the difficulties you are under.”
Karadzic went on the run, evading capture for 11 years, after international prosecutors first charged him with war crimes.
The one-time poet and former psychiatrist was finally tracked down in Serbia in 2008, living under the name Dr Dragan Dabic.
He was working as a New Age healer. Locals had nicknamed him Santa because of his thick bushy beard and long white and grey hair.
The massacre monster had even set up his own website promoting his knowledge of “human quantum energy”.
Experts say the cost of holding Karadzic could run into millions. The standard annual cost for incarcerating a male prisoner in a UK jail is about £70,000, but extra security has been ordered for him.
It is believed Muslim inmates could seek revenge for his crimes in Bosnia.