Karadzic to challenge court-appointed lawyer

Radovan Karadzic will challenge the appointment of a lawyer to represent him at his war crimes trial, his spokesman said today.

The former Bosnian Serb political leader plans to conduct his own courtroom defence against genocide and other war crimes charges stemming from the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.

But judges ordered a court-appointed lawyer after Karadzic boycotted the opening day of the trial in October, forcing a postponement to March.

Karadzic spokesman Peter Robinson said that Karadzic will file a complaint rejecting his court-appointed British lawyer, Richard Harvey.

Karadzic has not entered a formal plea to 11 charges for alleged atrocities in Bosnia including killing civilians at Sarajevo and massacring Muslims at Srebrenica.