Still at large: Goran Hadzic

GORAN HADZIC (49) is accused of attempting to ethnically cleanse vast swathes of Croatia during its 1991-1995 war with Serbia.

Hadzic was the wartime president of the self-proclaimed Serb republic of Krajina, which was seized by Serbs who opposed attempts by the Croatian government in Zagreb to break away from Belgrade.

He faces 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the murder of hundreds of Croatian civilians and the deportation of tens of thousands of Croats and other non-Serb civilians in Croatia.

His indictment cites the infamous 1991 massacre of more than 250 Croatians and other non-Serbs in the town of Vukovar.

Hadzic was indicted by the UN court in 2004, but disappeared from his home in northern Serbia just before the launch of an operation to arrest him. He is believed to have been warned of the operation by Serb security services, and has since been reported to be hiding in Bosnia, Montenegro and Belarus.

- Dan McLaughlin

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times