THE HAGUE – Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic appeared in court yesterday for the first time since his trial for genocide started but said he would take no further part unless he had more time to prepare his defence.
Mr Karadzic, acting as his own attorney, boycotted the start of proceedings last week before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where he faces 11 war crimes charges, including two of genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
He said he needs 10 more months to prepare, arguing he has been “snowed under” by 1.3 million pages of documents.
“I don’t want to boycott these proceedings but I cannot take part in something that has been bad from the start,” Mr Karadzic said when asked by presiding judge O-Gon Kwon if he would continue his boycott.
The three-judge panel adjourned and said it would decide later this week on how to proceed. Planned prosecution witness testimony was cancelled pending the decision.
Prosecutor Hildegard Uertz-Retzlaff said options included appointing a standby counsel who could step in if Mr Karadzic refused to participate, or stripping him of his right to represent himself. Imposing counsel could delay proceedings by a few months but that would be a “reasonable price” to pay to end his obstruction of the trial, the prosecutor added.
“If necessary, force can be used to secure his presence in the courtroom,” Ms Uertz-Retzlaff said.
Prosecutors said in opening statements that Karadzic orchestrated one of “humanity’s darkest chapters” and is responsible for the killings of more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the village of Srebrenica in July 1995.
The charges also relate to the 43-month siege of Sarajevo by Bosnian Serb forces which began in 1992. An estimated 10,000 people died in that siege.
War crimes researchers in Bosnia yesterday unveiled an “atlas of war crimes” maps website at www.idc.org.ba, saying it should help people better understand the past. The site allows readers to find sites of mass executions and mass graves across Bosnia, along with victims’ names and some court documentation. – (Reuters)