Mr Slobodan Milosevic poured fresh scorn on the UN war crimes court at his third pre-trial appearance yesterday, insisting it was an illegitimate, biased institution peddling fabricated accusations.
The former Yugoslav president remained defiant as the Kosovo indictment already levelled against him was expanded to include fresh charges of sexual assault, and to add tens of thousands to the number of Kosovo Albanians allegedly deported in 1999.
Mr Milosevic started a shouting match when asked how he pleaded to an extra count alleging the forcible transfer of Kosovo Albanians. His refusal to plead prompted a British judge, Mr Richard May, to enter a "not guilty" plea on his behalf.
"Mr Milosevic, will you please be quiet," Mr May said in cut-glass tones when the defendant continued a finger-jabbing tirade in Serbian against the court.
Mr Milosevic (60) displayed a mixture of boredom, contempt and indifference as the Kosovo indictment was read out. His refusal to designate defence counsel has prompted judges to appoint a three-man legal team to ensure he gets a fair trial.
The new indictment accuses Mr Milosevic of spearheading a drive to kill or expel Croats and other non-Serbs from Croatia in 1991-2. UN prosecutors said they would submit an indictment next week for Bosnia including the gravest charge, genocide.
Mr Milosevic scorned the "amici curiae" or "friends of the court" - the court-appointed legal team who made their first appearance yesterday - and questioned their impartiality.
A Serbian lawyer, Mr Branislav Tapuskovic, a Briton Mr Steven Kay and a Dutch advocate Mr Mischa Wladimiroff translated into legal argument Mr Milosevic's contention that his transfer to The Hague was illegal and the court's legitimacy questionable.
"People don't want to understand that this tribunal was established by the international community explicitly to put an end to the impunity of powerful people, the heads of state," the chief prosecutor, Ms Carla Del Ponte, who is Swiss, said in French.