The Hague - Former Bosnian Serb Leader Radovan Karadzic appeared Monday in what was confirmed to be the final preparatory hearing before the resumption of his trial on March 1. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has indicted Karadzic on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including two counts of genocide, for acts allegedly committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

 

Speaking to the German Press Agency dpa, an ICTY spokeswoman said "the trial will resume as scheduled on March 1," but at the same time did not rule out possible new delays.

 

Monday's hearings at the Hague-based tribunal focused exclusively on technical legal matters and dealt with a series of documents the former psychiatrist had requested.

 

Karadzic's February 1 motion requesting another postponement of his trial was not discussed.

 

The 64-year-old Bosnian Serb claimed a postponement was necessary because he had not had sufficient legal staff since November. The prosecution protested his request.

 

Karadzic's trial began on October 26 but was adjourned just days later until March 1, after the Bosnian Serb leader claimed he was not ready for trial and absented himself from the hearings.

 

Karadzic, who is representing himself at the UN sponsored tribunal, claims he was not given enough time to prepare himself. Previous repeated requests for a postponement were denied.

 

On November 20, the war crimes tribunal appointed British-born lawyer Richard Harvey as defence counsel and on January 28, an administrative hearing took place to prepare the upcoming start of the trial.

 

On Friday, the court rejected Karadzic's appeal against the appointment of Harvey as his defence attorney.

 

Karadzic is alleged to have orchestrated the 1992-1995 siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 massacre in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, then a UN safe zone, where Bosnian Serb forces killed some 8,000 unarmed men and boys. He denies all the charges.