Ratko Mladic ordered out of war crimes court for interrupting proceedings

The Hague: UN judges have ordered Ratko Mladic out of his Yugoslav war crimes tribunal arraignment after the former Bosnian Serb military chief repeatedly interrupted the hearing and refused to enter pleas.

Presiding Judge Alphons Orie warned Mladic several times Monday not to interrupt him as the defendant argued he should be allowed to choose his own lawyers.

Shortly before guards escorted Mladic from court, he shouted at Orie: "You want to impose my defense. What kind of a court are you?"

After a brief break, Orie resumed the hearing and began reading out the charges against Mladic.

On Monday Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic appeared before a UN war crimes court where he was expected to plead to war crimes, genocide and other charges in connection with his role in the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Mladic's court-appointed lawyer Alexandar Aleksic had asked the court to postpone the hearing because he had not been informed by his client that he would be present.

The judge rejected the request.

The lawyer on Sunday had said his client told prison authorities he intended to boycott the hearing as his defence team had not been approved.

Mladic's lawyer on Sunday said his client told prison authorities he did not want to appear as his defence team had not been approved.

But at the start of Monday's hearing, Mladic appeared and immediately began speaking out of turn, prompting judge Alphons Orie to ask him to remain silent until he's called on to speak.

If Mladic refuses to enter pleas to his 11-charge indictment, the judge will enter not guilty pleas on his behalf and planning for Mladic's trial can begin in earnest.

The 69-year-old is accused of masterminding the worst Serb atrocities of Bosnia's 1992-95 war. Mladic is being asked to plead to 11 counts related to his role in the war, in which 100,000 people died.

Arrested in May and extradited to The Hague after 16 years on the run, Mladic defiantly rejected war crimes charges against him as "obnoxious" and "monstrous" when he was formally charged at the Yugoslavia war crimes court last month.