War crimes court rejects Radovan Karadzic’s appeal to ditch court-appointed lawyer
By APFriday, February 12, 2010
War crimes court rejects Karadzic appeal on lawyer
AMSTERDAM — The U.N. Yugoslavia tribunal has 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 Karadzic, who plans to conduct his own defense, had appealed a court decision appointing him a standby lawyer in case he refuses or is unable to come to court.
Karadzic boycotted the start of his trial in October to protest his lack of time to prepare.
The court’s appeals panel Friday rejected his request and said trial judges were within their rights to name the standby lawyer.
