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Ratko Mladic ejected from UN war crimes court
Serbian general acts up after he fails to get the lawyer he wanted
Ratko Mladic, the Serbian general accused of the worst massacre in Europe since World War Two, has been ejected from the UN war crimes court at The Hague after continuously interrupting the judge in charge of his trial and refusing to cooperate.
The former army chief told Judge Alfons Orie that he would not listen to the proceedings until his desired lawyer, Milos Saljic, was allowed to represent him. But his request was denied as Mladic had submitted his application too late. A court-appointed lawyer had been allocated to him instead.
"You want to impose my defence," Mladic shouted at the judge. "What kind of a court are you?"
Mladic acted up from the moment he entered the courtroom, according to those present. Despite being told not to, he repeatedly communicated with people in the public gallery by giving them thumbs up signs. He also declined to take off his hat.
Speaking in The Hague, Saljic had warned yesterday that Mladic would boycott the trial if he did not get his way. And appeared to make good on his threat. Within half an hour of the hearing beginning, Mladic had taken off his headphones, saying, "No, no, I'm not going to listen to this without my lawyer".
Eventually, he was ordered to be removed from the courtroom. The judges later entered a plea of 'not guilty' to all charges on his behalf.
It looks as if he will make the trial a difficult one. When he first appeared in court on June 3, he refused to enter a formal plea, telling those in the room: "I defended my country and my people".
He also told the courtroom at the time that the charges levelled against him were "obnoxious" and "monstrous". "I have never heard such words," he said.
Wanted for atrocities committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, including the massacre of at least 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica, Mladic escaped capture for 15 years. He was eventually caught in Serbia in May this year, and subsequently extradited to The Hague in the Netherlands to face trial on 11 charges, one of which is genocide. ·
