Court appoints counsel for Karadzic
Thursday, 5 November 2009 20:21
The Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal has appointed legal counsel to represent former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic at his trial.
The court in The Hague has adjourned proceedings until 1 March 2010 to give new counsel time to prepare a defence.
A statement from the court read: 'The trial chamber hereby determines that the overall interests of justice are best met by the appointment of counsel.'
Mr Karadzic, who had boycotted proceedings since the trial started last week, had argued for more time.
However, judges had said they would appoint legal counsel to represent him if he continued to refuse to attend the trial.
Mr Karadzic has denied 11 war crimes charges for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
More than 100,000 people died and 2.2m were forced to flee their homes.
Mr Karadzic has vowed to resist the imposition of counsel on him.
He will have seven days to apply for permission to appeal the ruling, and another seven days thereafter to file an appeal.
The court said: 'The accused has indeed substantially and persistently obstructed the proper and expeditious conduct of his trial by refusing to attend the proceedings.
'The accused's conduct has effectively brought the trial to a halt, which is evidently his purpose.'
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