Former Bosnian Serb military chief Gen. Ratko Mladic has been assigned a Serbian lawyer to represent him when he appears before United Nations judges for the first time to face 11 war crimes charges.
The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal has issued an order appointing Aleksandar Aleksic as duty counsel for Mladic when he makes his first trip to its courtroom on Friday morning.
Tribunal spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic said on Thursday Mr. Aleksic has only been appointed for the hearing and Mladic will likely indicate in court how he wants to organize his defense. Many high—ranking Serb suspects have defended themselves at the court.
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Serbia extradited Mladic to the court on Tuesday, just days after arresting him and ending his 16-year flight from international justice.