Former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic will boycott the Hague war crimes tribunal, where he is scheduled on Monday to enter a plea against charges of genocide committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, his Belgrade lawyer Milos Saljic told Reuters.
Mladic, accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, is due to enter a plea tomorrow, after refusing to do so at his first court hearing on June 3, held immediately after his transfer from Serbia, where he was arrested after 16 years on the run.
Saljic said Mladic would boycott the hearing to demand that he be represented by his own defence lawyers.
"Mladic is not going to appear in the courtroom tomorrow unless he is forced to. He does not want to do it because he does not have his team of lawyers yet," Saljic told Reuters.
"The tribunal has no official indication or confirmation that Mladic is not going to appear so I am unable to comment," court spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic said.
If Mladic boycotts the hearing or refuses to enter a plea on Monday, the court will enter one of "not guilty" for him. Mladic has still not chosen a lawyer in The Hague because the tribunal's secretariat has still not checked the list of lawyers he would like to represent him. The secretariat announced it would do so by August 1. On Monday, Mladic will be represented again by the court-appointed Aleksandar Aleksic.
