Strange Medicine

December 9, 2009 3:04 PM

Radovan Karadzic was a war criminal who was able to escape prosecution for his war crimes during the genocide in Bosnia. In a particularly strange twist, Karadzic assumed the name Dragan Dabic and rose in the ranks of the alternative healing community in Belgrade.

“Across from Dabic’s apartment in New Belgrade, there lived a woman who worked at Interpol,” Vekaric of the I.C.T.Y. told me. “Every morning this woman switched on her computer and there was a picture of Radovan Karadzic and Osama bin Laden. And each morning she would say good morning to Dragan Dabic.” She never suspected who her neighbor was."

posted by reenum (18 comments total)

Here's his website
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:12 PM on December 9, 2009

I guess he wasn't content just killing people the old-fashioned way.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 3:14 PM on December 9, 2009 [11 favorites]

Here's the charging document -- pdf format -- for his current trial for, among other things, genocide.
posted by bearwife at 3:17 PM on December 9, 2009

Also here from October if you're a New Yorker subscriber.
posted by jckll at 3:22 PM on December 9, 2009

Thanks for ruining the new John le Carré novel for me.
posted by Dumsnill at 3:25 PM on December 9, 2009

Radovan Karadzic was a war criminal

Radovan Karadzic is a war criminal.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 3:26 PM on December 9, 2009 [26 favorites]

"Unfortunately for infertile Serbs, Dabic's arrest ended the testicle experiments."
posted by aquathug at 3:26 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ha! Hang around with old guys with bad eyesite. Brilliant.
posted by XMLicious at 3:28 PM on December 9, 2009

"Sarajevo will be a black cauldron where Muslims will die"
Throw away the key.
posted by Abiezer at 3:29 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

Here's an article from a Bosnian man whose wife was treated by Radovan Karadzic in his guise as alternative health practitioner Dragan Dabic, including pictures of Karadzic as the bearded faith healer, and an interesting note about Belgrade: You have to understand. Belgrade is full of these quack doctors, snake-oil peddlers - it is a way of life. Karadzic was arrested on 21 July 2008, and it was pretty big news at the time.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:58 PM on December 9, 2009

Alternative medicine and new age stuff have a long history of going hand in hand with nationalism, racism, and fascism. Theosophy begat Guido von List's Ariosophy, Rudolf Steiner had some fairly weird ideas about race, etc. The core mysticism of alternative medicine resonates well with the core mysticism of nationalism and racism, I think.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 4:03 PM on December 9, 2009 [4 favorites]

Karadzic was arrested on 21 July 2008, and it was pretty big news at the time.

So much so that I'm surprised that there does not appear to be an FPP on it.
posted by Artw at 4:26 PM on December 9, 2009

The core mysticism of alternative medicine resonates well with the core mysticism of nationalism and racism, I think.

I think it's the combination of the kind of people who look for simple answers to the world and the idea that people are throwing "negative vibes" simply by existing. And, of course, that racism constantly needs new rationales for it's craziness.
posted by yeloson at 4:27 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

artw: FPP of the arrest here.
posted by sarahnade at 4:39 PM on December 9, 2009

Heh. Damn you failure of tag overlap! (also accent equivalency in search faliure).
posted by Artw at 4:44 PM on December 9, 2009

Hey, how about some tags for bosnia, radovankaradzic, and drabandabic?
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 6:10 PM on December 9, 2009

It seems that natural medicine was another way for Karadzic to mythologize himself—he's not only the savior of the Serbian people, but his hands radiate energy! With a simple touch, he brings joy to the terminally despondent, and makes the infertile fertile! What a guy!

Karadzic wasn't just selling snake oil, but himself. And while the article addresses the issue of Karadzic's mythic image, it also (perhaps inescapably?) participates in the mythologizing of a war criminal.

Don't get me wrong. I like the article. (And am totally jealous that the author got to hang out with Jasmina Tesanovic.) I just wonder if there's any way to tell the story of Karadzic's subterfuge without elevating him for it.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 10:30 AM on December 10, 2009

Radovan Karadzic was a war criminal

Radovan Karadzic is a war criminal.

Yeah, I'd like to see that rectified back to 'was.'
(Ok, no, I don't support the death penalty in any form. I won't leave it, but I don't have to enjoy the moral high ground. This guy sorely tempts me)
posted by Smedleyman at 3:33 AM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]