Karadzic seeking appeal to remove appointed counsel

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic asked the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal on Wednesday to hear his appeal against the court’s decision to appoint legal counsel after he boycotted proceedings.
Judges ordered last week that legal counsel be appointed to Karadzic and adjourned his trial until March 2010 to give new defence lawyers time to prepare.
Karadzic, who has denied his 11 war crimes charges from the war, had been representing himself but boycotted the first three days of trial proceedings, arguing that he needed more time to prepare for a “case of this magnitude and complexity.”
Karadzic argued in Wednesday’s filing that he should be allowed to appeal against the court’s decision because counsel was appointed despite his objections.
Procedural rules at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia require court approval for appeals before they can be considered.
The ruling last week allows for Karadzic to continue representing himself, but he will have to work with an appointed lawyer. If he continues to boycott the trial, then Karadzic will forfeit his right to self-representation and the appointed lawyer will take over, the court said.
The charges against Karadzic include the 43-month siege of Sarajevo that began in 1992. An estimated 10,000 people died in the siege as the former Yugoslavia was torn apart in the 1990s by Serbs, Croats and Muslims fighting for land.
Charged with some of Europe’s worst atrocities since World War Two, Karadzic had been on the run for 11 years until his capture last year, bearded and disguised as an alternative healer in Belgrade.
(Reporting by Reed Stevenson)