War crimes trial
October 22, 2009
Karadzic, 64, is scheduled to go on trial next Monday on 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Karadzic denies all the charges against him and says he is planning to conduct his own defense.
"I and my team will work on the preparations in the most intensive way," Karadzic said in a written statement to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). "As soon as I am ready I will inform the chamber and the office of the prosecutor."
The statement was released by his lawyer, Peter Robinson.
Previously, Karadzic unsuccessfully filed a motion to the appeals chamber requesting a 10-month postponement.
Boycott has some precedence
The war tribunal's rules of procedure determine that a defendant's presence in court is essential to constitute a fair trial.
The first defendant who refused to appear before the ICTY was Veselin Sljivancanin, a former lieutenant colonel in the Yugoslav National Army, who stood trial in connection with the 1991 massacre in the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar.
On July 3, 2003 he refused to be present for his arraignment. The presiding judge then said he would have the former military "carried" to court if he would not walk by himself.
Sljivancanin was ultimately persuaded to appear before the tribunal.
Bosnian Serb general Radislav Krstic, accused of genocide in connection with the 1995 massacre in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica, was absent during many occasions at his trial, due to medical treatment.
As he entrusted his lawyers with his case, the court subsequently reasoned he had given up his right to be present.
Court may appoint lawyer
Karadzic however has not waived his right to be present, explicitly emphasizing his case was "so complicated" no lawyer could defend him properly. Prosecutors have collected around 600,000 documents and more than 1,000 legal papers in evidence.
Theoretically, the trial chamber could decide to appoint an attorney to represent him in court.
The late Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian leader who stood trial at the ICTY from 2002 until his death in 2006, had an attorney appointed against his will.
Karadzic is charged as one of the alleged authors of a plan to "permanently remove" Bosnian Muslims and Croats from Serb-claimed territory – including for his role in the 44-month siege of Sarajevo that left 10,000 people dead and the massacre of around 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.
Bosnia's 1992-95 inter-ethnic war claimed an estimated 100,000 lives.
acb/dpa/AFP
Editor: Chuck Penfold