Karadzic set to appeal against court-appointed lawyer
12/11/200905:35
MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has notified the International Criminal Tribunal that he would appeal the court's decision to appoint a lawyer to defend him in the court.
Karadzic, accused of war crimes and genocide dating from the 1992-95 Bosnian war, has previously stated he would defend himself at the trial.
The alleged Bosnian Serb war criminal, who attended a court session in The Hague for the first time last Tuesday, had boycotted the trial since it started on October 26.
In his letter to a three-judge panel, Karadzic expressed regret that he was not allowed to choose the lawyer, and reiterated that he needed at least 10 more months to prepare for the trial rather than the three and a half months given by the court.
On November 5, the Hague Tribunal appointed a lawyer for Karadzic and postponed the trial until March 1, 2010, although it said he would still be allowed to defend himself if he attends the court hearings.
Prosecutors earlier urged the judges not to allow Karadzic to deliberately hold up the trial, arguing that he had 15 months to prepare for the trial and should have been ready for court proceedings to begin.
Karadzic, 64, was arrested last year after he had spent over 12 years in hiding. The crimes he is accused of include the massacre of some 7,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.
Karadzic insists he is innocent of all charges brought against him.
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