War crimes tribunal to appoint lawyer for Karadzic

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic makes an initial appearance at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on July 31, 2008 in the Hague, The Netherlands. Karadzic was formally charged on 11 counts for war crimes commited during the Bosnian war of the 1990s, following his arrest in Belgrade last week and extradition to the Netherlands after evading capture for 13 years. (Serge Ligtenberg, Getty Images)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The U.N. war crimes tribunal has decided that former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic will be appointed a lawyer to represent him whenever he fails to appear in court.

That decision comes after Karadzic boycotted the start of his war crimes trial last week, arguing that he has not had enough time to prepare his defense.

Karadzic faces two counts of genocide and nine other charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes for atrocities during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war. He has refused to enter pleas, but insists he is innocent of all charges.

The decision Thursday will allow Karadzic to continue to represent himself for the time being.

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