Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic asked Monday for another delay of his genocide trial, demanding more time to prepare.

"Dr Radovan Karadzic respectfully moves for postponement of the 1 March, 2010 date for resumption of the trial," he said in a written motion filed with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.

"His rights to adequate facilities and to choose his standby counsel have been violated by the registrar (of the tribunal), making it impossible for him to prepare for and participate in the trial."

Karadzic complained to the court last week of inadequate telephone and computer facilities at the UN detention unit in The Hague, where he is preparing to conduct his own defence, and claimed the tribunal's funding did not allow his legal advisers to work a sufficient number of hours.

He reiterated on Monday that he was "simply unlikely to participate in a trial in which he must face the prosecution and all of its resources with one team member and no case managers and investigators.
"Such a trial would be a farce."

Karadzic said the prosecution had filed an extra 300,000 pages of documents recently during a period when he had no investigators or case managers to assist him due to a lack of funds.

He blames the tribunal registrar -- the official in charge of court administration and the distribution of funds -- for failing to provide him with the necessary resources.

"Dr Karadzic has fallen even further behind in his trial preparation," states the motion.
"It is clear that the trial should be postponed so that Dr Karadzic can be restored to the position he would be in but for the registrar's error."

The 64-year-old is also challenging the tribunal imposing on him a British lawyer, Richard Harvey, as standby counsel.

"The registrar violated his right to choose his standby counsel and imposed a counsel who Dr Karadzic cannot trust," reads the motion.

Karadzic is charged for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnian war in which around 100,000 people died and 2.2 million were forced to flee their homes.

Arrested on a Belgrade bus in July 2008 after 13 years on the run, Karadzic risks life imprisonment if convicted of crimes that include the Srebrenica massacre of 7,000 Muslims and the 44-month siege of Sarajevo.

(AFP)