The lawyers appointed to defend Slobodan Milosevic in his war crimes trial said on Tuesday their relationship with the defendant had been irreparably damaged and renewed their plea to be allowed to withdraw from the case. Steven Kay told The Hague Tribunal he and Gillian Higgins could not adequately defend the former Yugoslav president because Milosevic refused to co-operate with them after the court imposed them on him to avoid trial delays due to his ill health.
The lawyers were appointed in September. Kay said a rapport built up with Milosevic in their earlier role as "friends of the court" to ensure a fair trial was "completely destroyed" after they were formally appointed.
"... As assigned counsel our relationship with this accused has run into the sand and completely deteriorated to the extent that we do not have what existed before," Kay said.
"I don't want to stand here for an accused and seek to represent him and his interests if he thinks I'm unprofessional (and) I'm no good at my job," he added.
The tribunal heard the appeal a week after Milosevic, 63, was given the right to lead his own defence case following his appeal against the imposition of defence lawyers.
While the court agreed last week to restore Milosevic to a more central role in the trial, which opened in February 2002, it said the lawyers would remain to take over should the former president's health prevent him from continuing.
Milosevic, who conducted his own defence for the first 30 months of his trial, suffers from a heart condition and high blood pressure. His health has caused frequently trial delays.
Kay was critical of the court, saying it helped create the impasse with Milosevic when it ruled against allowing the former Serb leader to cross-examine his own witnesses first.
"If you had allowed the accused to go first we might have been able to make this work," Kay said.
Kay doubted it was possible to rebuild the relationship with Milosevic, who he said has accused him of unprofessionalism and filed a complaint against him with the Dutch bar association.
He also argued the court had failed to provide sufficient instruction for the lawyers to carry out Milosevic's defence and suggested that, given his opposition to their appointment, failing to allow them to withdraw would raise ethical questions. "We are putting the court on notice that there is a fundamental flaw in these proceedings," Kay said.
But Judge Patrick Lipton said the court could impose defence lawyers to ensure a fair trial, despite Milosevic's objections.
Milosevic is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s in what is regarded as Europe's most significant war crimes trial since top Nazis were tried at Nuremberg after World War Two.
Milosevic, who had 'not guilty' pleas entered on his behalf after declining to plead to the charges, has refused to speak to the lawyers or to ask the first five defence witnesses questions after cross-examination by his appointed counsel.