Stall Tactics

Mladic Appears Before Hague

Refuses to enter plea to "monstrous" charges.

Former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic made his first appearance before The Hague war crimes tribunal, while relatives of victims of the Bosnian war gathered outside the courtroom. Initially he asked the judge not to read the charges out loud, but when the judge did so, Mladic called the charges "monstrous" and said he would need more than a month to respond, and at least two months to read the three binders of documents that they had given him. If he doesn't enter a plea within 30 days, the judges will enter pleas of not guilty on his behalf. He also told the court that he was "gravely ill" and that he had been "defending my people and my country." The tribunal is charging him with genocide, persecution, extermination, inhumane acts, and terror, among other crimes.