Tribunal rejects Karadzic lawyer appeal
The UN Yugoslavia tribunal today rejected an appeal by war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic to rid himself of a court-appointed lawyer.
Karadzic goes on trial in March for atrocities he allegedly committed as Bosnia’s leading Serb politician in the early 1990s, including killing civilians at Sarajevo and Srebrenica.
The 64-year-old, who plans to conduct his own defence, had appealed against a court decision appointing him a standby lawyer in case he refuses or is unable to come to the court in The Hague.
Karadzic boycotted the start of his trial in October to protest over his lack of time to prepare.
The court’s appeals panel rejected his request today and said trial judges were within their rights to name the standby lawyer.
