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Karadzic appears at war crimes tribunal (1st Lead)
Nov 3, 2009, 13:04 GMT
The Hague - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic arrived at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague Tuesday afternoon for a hearing on the future of his trial, which he has so far refused to attend.
In a letter to presiding judge O-Gon Kwon on Sunday, the 64-year- old said he would attend the so-called 'status conference' in which the court is due to decide how to proceed with the trial if Karadzic continues his boycott.
Karadzic, who is representing himself at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), has demanded to be given more time to prepare his defence.
Last week, Kwon said that if Karadzic refused to attend Tuesday's hearing, the chamber might decide to continue proceedings in his absence or assign him a defence lawyer.
Kwon also said the accused's right to be present at a trial is 'not absolute', and Karadzic's choice not to attend could be considered a voluntary waiving of this right.
In his letter, Karadzic had also said he hoped 'we will be able to find a solution which will lead not only to an expeditious trial, but a fair one'.
On Monday, the prosecution completed reading the indictment against the former psychiatrist, who faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including two counts of genocide.
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