Karadzic refuses plea at Hague tribunal

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has dismissed the UN war crimes tribunal as a 'court of NATO' and refused to enter a plea.

Mr Karadzic, 63, is making his second appearance before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

He was arrested six weeks ago in Belgrade, 13 years after his indictment. and charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The charges include two of genocide over the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica.

'This court is representing itself falsely as a court of the international community where it is in fact a court of NATO,' Mr Karadzic told the court, adding that the transatlantic alliance was out 'to liquidate' him.

When Karadzic refused to enter a plea, the presiding judge Iain Bonomy - following the tribunal's procedural rules - automatically entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.

Mr Karadzic was caught last month in Belgrade after more than a decade on the run. He had a flowing beard and long hair which disguised him while he worked as an alternative healer.

He has already made clear his intent to represent himself and has been busy filing numerous motions over the past month.

They include contesting the appointment of judges, demanding former US peace mediator Richard Holbrooke and ex-secretary of state Madeleine Albright appear at the tribunal, and challenging the legality of the case against him.

At his first pre-trial hearing a month ago after being transferred to The Hague, Mr Karadzic argued that under a secret deal forged more than a decade ago Mr Holbrooke offered him immunity from prosecution if he disappeared after the war.

Having earlier said Mr Holbrooke wanted him dead, Mr Karadzic wrote in a submission to the court last week the looming legal proceedings amounted to a 'judicial liquidation' as there was no chance of a fair trial.

'The presumption of innocence has been derogated and reduced to a joke, while my rights have been irrevocably prejudiced,' the former Bosnia Serb leader wrote.

Mr Karadzic's filings show that he may be seeking to delay the start of the trial, expected next year, similar to attempts by former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic after he was brought to The Hague in 2001 to face charges, said Andre de Hoogh, an international law lecturer at Groningen University.

Mr Karadzic argues that his trial is illegal because he was offered immunity by Mr Holbrooke, who represented the US during peace talks.

Mr Holbrooke has repeatedly denied the claims.

Experts say UN prosecutors and judges are likely to seek a speedy trial to avoid a lengthy proceeding like the Milosevic trial that lasted four years and had nearly 300 witnesses.

The former Yugoslav leader died in jail in 2006 before the trial could end.