The leader of the opposition ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party said today he would not co-operate with the Hague court in protest at its refusal to let him represent himself.
War crimes suspect Vojislav Seselj, who surrendered to the UN tribunal in 2003, was assigned a court-appointed defence counsel last month because of his disruptive behaviour.
Vojislav Seselj
"I will not be taking part in this theatrical production," Seselj said in court.
Seselj (51) said his lawyer was an actor brought into the court and was acting as a spy. "With a bird's nest on his head posing as my counsel, he can never represent me," Seselj said referring to the customary wig lawyers wear in higher courts.
Seselj, who taught political science at Sarajevo University from 1981 to 1984, was escorted out of the court by security guards.
He is charged with persecution, extermination, murder and torture of non-Serbs in the Balkan wars in the early 1990s.
The Hague tribunal said last month he had used offensive and insulting language in court, released confidential documents and intimidated potential witnesses. Seselj's trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is scheduled to begin in October.
Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslavian president who died in jail before his marathon war crimes trial ended, also berated the judges and questioned the legitimacy of the court, but was allowed to defend himself until he died in March.
Seselj's opposition Radicals regularly score highest in polls of voting intentions, with the backing of about one-third of Serbia's six million voters