At his initial appearance, Karadzic noted that while he doesn't have a defense counsel, he does plan on defending himself with the help of an "invisible advisor."
As this Time Magazine article explains, representing oneself at the Hague has several tangible upsides for defendants.
Karadzic's new advisor(?)
And in related news...
Besides Karadzic's appearance, the other major news was the resurfacing of rumors that the U.S. government offered Karadzic immunity in exchange for staying out of public life, which the U.S. State Department denies (not exactly a shock there).
While as of yet, there is no "smoking gun." Evidence pointing to a deal has gained more and more support.
But, even without a specific deal, the extreme reluctance (to put in politely) of NATO forces to arrest alleged war criminals is well known by now.
For a good discussion on a possible deal, check out East Ethnia and Justwatch-l discussion group.
And on the subject of Karadzic's new home, an excellent two part article from Slate Magazine.
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Another article at Jurist on war criminals defending themselves by David Crane of Syracuse University College of Law, former Chief Prosecutor for the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone:
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2008/07/karadzics-choice-why-war-criminals.php
The possible imposition of a lawyer on Seselj is seen as a way of killing him equivalent to injecting air into a vein.
https://listserv.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0807&L=JUSTWATCH-L&T=0&F=&S=&X=5C42354C104A203798&Y=beithowen%40gn.apc.org&P=205075
Guys, have you gotten my email? My server failed, major disaster on Saturday, please respond back. I lost all emails. Have you managed to receive any from me?
Thanks for the article, as Milosevic and Seselj have and are proving, pro-se defense is an excellent way for defendants to earn ideological points with their "base" back home.
On the otherhand, I'm sure it is a real tightrope act for the judges to provide the defendant with as fair and impartial trial as they are entitled too, and to keep the hearing running smoothly and under control.
Expect a lot of delays! (JMHO)
Shaina???
Shaina, did you get the e-mail I forwarded on to you? (you can delete this)
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