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Karadzic refuses to enter plea at war crime tribunal

29/08/2008

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has refused to enter a plea to the 11 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes he faces at the United Nations (UN) war-crimes tribunal in The Hague.

As a result, the residing judge entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.

The 63-year-old has been indicted for genocide and war crimes over his role in the war in Bosnia.

The former leader was in a typically bullish mood in the court this afternoon asking for more resources and claiming that there had been a lot of time wasting carried out by the prosecution.

Mr Karadzic is suspected of being directly involved in the killing of 8,000 Muslim Bosnians in the town of Srebrenica in 1995 and will also be examined over his role in other events during the war such as the siege of Sarajevo.

Today was Mr Karadzic's second appearance in front of the war crimes tribunal, he is next due to appear on September 17th.

Mr Karadzic had been on the run for 13 years before he was discovered working as an expert in 'human quantum energy' in Belgrade.

During his time in hiding, the former leader hid his appearance by letting his hair grow and sporting a long grey beard.

Mr Karadzic's former military commander, Ratko Mladic, also wanted by the United Nations court, remains at large.