[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] on Friday appointed [press release] British lawyer Richard Harvey to represent Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic [case materials; JURIST news archive] if he continues to boycott his trial when proceedings resume in March. Harvey is currently joint head of the British defense firm Garden Court Chambers [firm website] and has extensive experience in high profile criminal defense cases in both the ICTY and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website]. He served as lead defense counsel for Lahi Brahimaj [Trial Watch profile], who was accused of ordering the torture and murder of detainees at Jablanica detention center as local commander of the Kosovo Liberation Amy [CFR backgrounder] and co-counsel in the ICTY Haradin Bala and ICTR Juvenal Kajelijeli [Trial Watch backgrounders] prosecutions. It is unlikely that Karadzic, whose trial was adjourned [JURIST report] just days after it began because of his refusal to participate, will cooperate with Harvey. Karadzic claims that he is boycotting his trial because of inadequate time [JURIST report] to prepare a defense.

The ICTY announced earlier this month that it would appoint counsel [JURIST report] after a tribunal judge again denied Karadzic's request for a 10-month delay. Before requesting delay, Karadzic asked the UN Security Council to grant him immunity from trial after the ICTY appeals chamber rejected [JURIST reports] his argument that he was promised immunity by former US ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke in exchange for his resignation. Karadzic faces 11 charges [amended indictment, PDF], including genocide and murder, for war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.