The arrest of alleged war criminal Radovan Karadzic hasn't drawn much of a response from former countrymen now living in Winnipeg.
Some Serbian nationalists quietly regard him as a hero and are appalled that he was handed over by the Serbian government. Others from the former Yugoslavia see him as a butcher, but won't comment publicly for fear of reprisals.
Radovan Karadzic
A former CNN correspondent who met the man several times while covering the war said he was a smart, media-savvy nail-biter whose arrest is long overdue.
"I interviewed Karadzic a half dozen times or so, through the course of the war," said Winnipegger Jackie Shymanski.
"He spoke fluent English, was quite intelligent, and was shrewd in his dealings with the media. His daughter ran the official press office," Shymanski said in an e-mail.
"You could always gauge how stressed he was by his fingernails -- he chewed them down to the quick when the war wasn't going his way," she said.
"The last time I saw him was shortly after he was indicted by the (United Nations)," said Shymanski. "It was in Pale, the Bosnian Serb stronghold. He held a small audience with his strongest supporters, and was completely surrounded by security goons. He gave me a brief interview, and I noticed his fingernails were bloody."
More than a decade later, he was arrested in Belgrade on Monday.
"What took so long?" asked Shymanski. "... Karadzic lived openly in both Pale and now it turns out Belgrade, in spite of his responsibility for a brutal war ... and in spite of being one of the world's most wanted men.
"I look forward to the day when Ratko Mladic, the general at his side, is also arrested."
More than 100,000 people died during the Bosnian war from 1992-95, and 1.8 million others were driven from their homes.
Karadzic will be handed over to the UN war crimes tribunal sometime in the next week, officials said, and his lawyer said he intends to defend himself there just like his mentor, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. He died in 2006 while on trial in The Hague.
The arrest of Karadzic was hailed by western governments who applauded Serbia's new pro-western leadership for the capture.
But in Belgrade, dozens of Serbian extremists took to the streets Tuesday, clashing with police.
In Winnipeg, there were no protests or public celebrations, but Shymanski said reactions here will be strong even if they're silent.
"He and Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic have almost a cult status with some Serbs -- those who bought into the dream of a Greater Serbia at any cost," said Shymanski. "Those on the receiving end -- Croats and Bosnian Muslims, are no doubt celebrating."
-- With files from The Associated Press
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