On Oct. 26, 2009, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic boycotted his own war crimes trial at a United Nations court in The Hague.  In a submission to the court, Karadzic explained his absence saying,  "I hereby inform you that my defense is not ready for my trial that is supposed to begin as scheduled on Oct. 26, and that therefore I shall not appear before you on that date."

The presiding judge, O-Gon Kwon, responded to Karadzic's absence saying, "I note that the accused Mr. Karadzic is not present."  He continued, "In light of the absence of the accused and of counsel to represent him, the chamber will adjourn these proceedings today until ... tomorrow. We request Mr. Karadzic to attend so that his trial is not further obstructed."

Should Karadzic fail to attend the trial, the United Nations court could simply give him more case preparation time, since he was representing himself.  The court could also appoint legal representatives for him, essentially pressing the legal procedures along.  To this end, Prosecutor Hildegard Uertz-Retzlaff said, "This trial chamber is faced with two choices -- allowing the accused to continue to absent himself and therefore frustrate these proceedings or to assign counsel." Uertz-Retzlaff continued, "The accused having exhausted his legal remedies now wants to dictate the course of the trial through other means."  That being said, the court ruled the trial  could continue despite  Karadzic's absence.  

Because   former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic died in custody, the United Nations court at The Hague was hoping to quickly conclude this case against Karadzic, since he had already spent several years at large.

Editor's Note:

In mid-July 2008, Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic was found living in disguise and working as a doctor  named Dragan Dabic in Belgrade.  He was  arrested after spending more than a decade as a fugitive.  The Bosnian Serb leader was set to be sent to the United Nations war crimes tribunal at The Hague to face charges of war crimes and genocide in relation to the war in Bosnia in the mid-1990s. A deadline to challenge extradition to the Netherlands expired with associates of Karadzic suggesting that his attorneys had lodged an appeal.  Regardless, an appeal was not likely to have any lasting effect,  given the gravity of the charges at stake.    The United Nations has said that  Karadzic and his forces were responsible for the deaths of as many as 8,000 Bosniak men and boys  in July 1995, in what has come to be known as the "Srebrenica massacre." He has also been accused of  shelling Sarajevo and using 284 United Nations peacekeepers as human shields in 1995.  Once he was transferred to the custody of the United Nations criminal court at The Hague, he was given several months to prepare for his defense. At stake were 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including persecution, extermination, and deportation during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.