SETimes.comKaradzic to get court-appointed lawyer
05/11/2009
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands -- The UN war crimes tribunal decided Thursday (November 5th) to appoint an attorney who will represent Radovan Karadzic if he refuses to appear in court. The wartime leader of Bosnian Serbs stands accused of genocide and war crimes, but boycotted the start of his trial last week and has so far refused to enter a plea. The trial has now been suspended until March 1st, 2010.
Karadzic, who is currently acting as his own lawyer, will "forfeit his right to self-representation" if he continues to obstruct the trial proceedings when they resume, presiding judge O-Gon Kwon wrote in the ruling. Another top war crimes indictee who acted as his own attorney, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, died of a heart attack in tribunal custody during a trial that dragged on for years. (AP, AFP, BBC, Tanjug)