Defiant Serb hardliner Mr Vojislav Seselj pleaded not guilty to all charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against him before the UN court today.
The ultra-nationalist politician refused to get up for the presiding judge and demanded the presence of all three judges of the trial chamber assigned to the case to see this "most important part of the trial".
German judge Wolfgang Schomburg replied that only one judge needed to be present according to tribunal procedure, and immediately moved on to the reading of the charges.
"Not guilty," said Mr Seselj to all 14 of the charges read out to him. Chief war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte also attended the hearing.
Mr Seselj, a political ally of former Yugoslav president Mr Slobodan Milosevic who is also on trial in The Hague, is accused of crimes including persecution, extermination, murder and torture committed in Bosnia, Croatia and the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina during the 1990s Balkans wars.
Mr Seselj voluntarily surrendered to the UN court here on February 24th. At his initial appearance before the court in February, he refused to enter a plea, claiming he did not understand several words in the indictment.
The words he objected to were in the Croatian dialect. In theory Serbs and Croats speak the same language, but some words are different.
In today's hearing Seselj again demanded that the UN court's interpreters should speak "standard Serbian".
"In my conclusion there is not the slightest doubt that this is a language you understand," Judge Schomburg replied.
The hardline leader of the Belgrade-based Serbian Radical Party repeated that, like Mr Milosevic, he wanted to defend himself in court. "I have never in my life met a better attorney than myself," said Mr Seselj, a trained lawyer.
AFP