It was a moment of history yesterday as Yugoslavia's fallen president, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, at last faced his accusers in the UN courtroom in The Hague.
True to form the unbowed dictator - the first head of state to be tried for alleged war crimes carried out while in office - has refused to recognise the legality of the tribunal or to issue a plea of guilty or not guilty.
The Serbian strongman waived his right to be legally represented or to have the 53page indictment against him for alleged horrific crimes against humanity read out after he took his place in the dock at 10 a.m.
He was seated between uniformed UN guards behind a row of empty seats normally occupied by defence lawyers. On the other side of a bullet-proof glass wall sat representatives of the international community, including a senior Irish diplomat, human rights activists and a small number of journalists from among the enormous media presence in the Dutch city.
The former Yugoslav president who oversaw four wars which left 200,000 dead and is blamed for orchestrating the mass slaughter of ethnic cleansing was dressed in a dark suit, pale blue shirt and silk red and blue striped tie.
When he spoke, loudly in English and Serbian, it was in the tone of one who believed the possibility of a fair trial was non-existent. Words like "illegal", "unjust", "illegitimate" and "false justification for war crimes" tested the patience of the Presiding British Judge Richard May who reminded him "this is not the time for speeches, you will have a full opportunity to defend yourself but this is not the time to do so".
Assisted by two judges from Jamaica and Morocco during the short proceedings, he called on Mr Milosevic to consider carefully whether it was in his best interests not to be legally represented during what would undoubtedly be "a long and complex case".
"I consider this tribunal to be a false tribunal and the indictments are false indictments; it is illegal, not appointed by the UN General Assembly, so I have no need to appoint counsel to an illegal organ," replied Mr Milosevic.
The indictments accuse him on three counts of crimes against humanity, for his crackdown on the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo and of command responsibility in the deaths of more than 600 Kosovars, twice the number first mentioned when he was first indicted in May 1999.
The UN chief prosecutor, Ms Carla del Ponte, and her team are also looking to press charges against the former Yugoslav president for atrocities in Bosnia and Croatia.
Asked by the presiding judge if he wanted the indictment read out or not Mr Milosevic retorted "that's your problem".
Mr Milosevic is due to appear again before the tribunal on August 27th.