Mladic boycotts The Hgue court hearing
Ex Bosnian serb army chief Ratko Mladic is reported to boycott a hearing at The Hague international war crime tribunal where he is due to enter a plea. The decision to boycott has been announced by his lawyer.
Milos Saljic told that since his defence team had not been approved he would not take part in Monday’s court session. Gen Mladic appeared before the court on 3rd June and declined to plead then citing the charges are “obnoxious.”
He was charged with crimes including genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. He was captured by the Serbian police in this May after sixteen years on run. He was then extradited to the International war crime tribunal in Netherlands on May 31st.
His lawyer Mr. Saljic told reporters, “Mladic has told the prison authorities that he does not want to appear in the courtroom (on Monday) and will not enter a plea. He decided not to reappear as his defence team has not yet been approved.”
The tribunal has asked for more time to scrutinize the lawyers Gen Mladic has submitted. Mladic wants Mr. Saljic and a Russian lawyer to defend him in the court. Presently, the court-appointed lawyer Aleksandar Aleksic represents him in the court.
Mr. Saljic told that even if Gen Maldic was forced to attend the court on Monday, he would not enter a plea. However, the court is believed to be unlikely to force Mladic to attend the hearing.
A court spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic told that since the tribunal was not aware of any boycott plan by Gen Mladic, preparations were going on as planned. Saying Mladic had been behaving normally, Nerma told, “He is allowed to spend his time like any other detainee… as he wishes, whether in communal activities with the other detainees or receiving visits.”
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Posted by explorer
on Jul 4 2011. Filed under World News.
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I’ve just heard a clip from the trial on the radio and Mladic has been denied legal representation and expelled from the courtroom. This doesn’t look good for his receiving a fair trial does it?