The Hague - The trail of former Bosnian Serb leader would go ahead as scheduled, the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague which is hearing his case confirmed Thursday, after Karadzic indicated he would not be present in court. The hearing would take place "Monday, October 26 at 09:00 in courtroom 1 as previously scheduled," the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said in a statement.
The statement came after Karadzic, sent a six-page letter to trial judges saying he would not be present during the first day of his trial because he had not been given enough time to prepare his defence.
The 64-year-old Karadzic is to face 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including two counts of genocide, for acts allegedly committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.
The former Bosnian Serb president also wrote that he was "buried under one million pages" of material he had not yet been able to read.
"I hereby inform you my defence is not ready for my trial, that is supposed to begin as scheduled on the 26th of October, and that therefore I shall not appear before you on that date," he wrote.
"I and my entire team will continue with the preparations in the most intensive way. As soon as I will be prepared, I will be happy to inform the chamber and the office of the prosecutor."
Since his trial was the "biggest, most complex, important and sensitive ever before this tribunal," Karadzic added, it would constitute his "only crime" if he would start his trial under the current circumstances.
The ICTY meanwhile said trial preparations would continue as planned.
"There is no indication at the moment that the procedure will not go ahead as scheduled," ICTY spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic was quoted as saying in the statement.
She emphasized the tribunal is "the only relevant body that can make a decision about the readiness of the case for trial."
Previously, Karadzic unsuccessfully filed a motion to the appeals chamber requesting a 10-month postponement.
The tribunal's rules of procedure determine that a defendant's presence in court is essential to constitute a fair trial.
The first defendant who refused to appear before the ICTY was Veselin Sljivancanin, a former lieutenant colonel of the Yugoslav People's Army who stood trial for his involvement in the Vukovar massacre.
On July 3, 2003 he refused to be present for his arraignment. The presiding judge then said he would have Sljivancanin "carried" to court if he would not get there himself.
Sljivancanin was ultimately persuaded to appear before t
