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Alleged 'Butcher Of Bosnia' In U.N. Court Hearing

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Nov 3, 2009 5:55 am US/Pacific

Alleged 'Butcher Of Bosnia' In U.N. Court Hearing

Radovan Karadzic Accused Of Masterminding Europe's Worst Massacre Since World War II In Ethnic Cleansing Of 8,000 Muslim Men And Boys

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 6: Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, seen in this Aug. 29, 2008 file photo, attends the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. Karadzic
Valerie Kuypers/AFP/Getty Images
Click to enlarge 2 of 6: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic in his stronghold of Pale. It was announced 20 May that NATO troops in Bosnia went on alert last week for a possible operation to seize Karadzic.
Igor Dutina / AFP/Getty Images
Click to enlarge 3 of 6: This wanted poster released March 2, 2000, by the US State Department shows Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, both wanted for alleged crimes against ethnic Albanians in Kososvo.
George Bridges/AFP/Getty Images
Click to enlarge 4 of 6: Radovan Karadzic in 1996 (L) and after being captured in 2008 (R).
AP
Click to enlarge 5 of 6: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic makes an initial appearance at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on July 31, 2008, in the Hague, The Netherlands.
Serge Ligtenberg/Getty Images
Click to enlarge 6 of 6: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic (R) is escorted in to make an appearance at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on July 31, 2008, in the Hague, The Netherlands.
Serge Ligtenberg/Getty Images

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U.N. Opens War Crimes Case Against Karadzic
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Karadzic, Judge Clash At War Crimes Tribunal
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Karadzic Extradited To War Crimes Tribunal
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Karadzic Wants To Defend Himself At Tribunal
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Karadzic Ordered To Face War Crimes Tribunal
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Top War Crimes Fugitive Radovan Karadzic Arrested
(7/21/2008)

Radovan Karadzic has appeared in the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal's courtroom for the first time since his trial began last week to argue for more time to prepare his defense.

Karadzic has boycotted the first three days of his trial on 11 charges linked to his alleged role in masterminding Serb atrocities throughout the Bosnian war.

Karadzic says he has not had enough time to prepare his defense even though he was indicted in 1995 and has been in custody for 14 months.

Judges have warned Karadzic they may impose a defense attorney on him if he continues his boycott. Karadzic is defending himself.

He said before Tuesday's hearing he wants to help judges find a way out of the stalemate he created.

Prosecutors allege Karadzic was the driving force behind atrocities beginning with the ethnic cleansing of towns and villages to create an ethnically pure Serb state in 1992 and culminating in Europe's worst massacre since World War II, the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces.

Karadzic, who has submitted more than 250 motions to the court since he decided to represent himself, claims he has not had enough time to prepare for his defense, even though he was arrested more than 15 months ago and first indicted in 1995.

Karadzic faces 11 charges -- two genocide counts and nine other war crimes and crimes against humanity. He has refused to enter any pleas, but insists he is innocent. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Witnesses who survived the 44-month siege of Sarajevo have described living "in constant fear, day after day, for years, knowing that they or their loved ones were targets," Tieger said, before showing judges video of a young boy fatally shot by a sniper and Bosnian Serb forces targeting mourners at a funeral.

Karadzic was arrested last year in Belgrade after 13 years on the run. When he was captured he was posing as New Age healer Dr. Dragan Dabic, disguised behind thick glasses, a bushy beard and straggly gray hair.