Former Bosnian Serb Commander Ratko Mladic made his initial appearance in a courtroom of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and is expected to enter his plea to the charges of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The presiding judge is Alphons Orie of the Netherlands. The Belgrade media reported on Thursday that Mladic would ask the Hague tribunal to postpone entering a plea
The tribunal's rules allow an accused to enter a plea within 30 days of their initial appearance before judges. If they refuse to do so, the court enters a plea of not guilty on their behalf.
The tribunal's Registry has appointed Serbian attorney Aleksandar Aleksic to represent Mladic at his initial appearance before the Trial Chamber and in other situations until permanent counsel has been appointed.
Mladic was captured in Serbia on May 26 after evading arrest for 16 years. He was transferred to the Netherlands on Tuesday evening and placed in the tribunal's detention unit in The Hague's district of Scheveningen.
The ICTY indicted him on 25 July 1995 for genocide and other war crimes in Bosnia and after that for genocide in Srebrenica.
