Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, is set to make his first appearance before a UN-backed war crimes tribunal that is hearing genocide charges against him.
Karadzic has so far boycotted the proceedings at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which began last week in The Hague.
But he pledged in a letter this week that he would attend a procedural hearing on Tuesday aimed at finding a way to proceed with the trial without his presence in court.
"I hope we will be able to find a solution which will lead not only to an expeditious trial, but a fair one," he said in a letter released on Monday.
Karadzic, who is conducting his own defense, is facing 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection to the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
He has repeatedly refused to enter pleas, but insists he is "innocent".
Judge's warning
He has said he wants more time to review a million pages of prosecution evidence and the statements of hundreds of witnesses.
O-Gon Kwon, the presiding judge, has said that the court would consider imposing a lawyer to represent Karadzic if he continues to boycott the proceedings.
"I would like to repeat once again to Karadzic our previous warnings ... should he maintain his position that he will not attend the trial we may proceed in his absence and assign counsel to represent him," the judge said on Monday.
"We advise him to consider this carefully prior to making his oral submissions tomorrow [Tuesday]."
Karadzic faces genocide charges over the Sarajevo siege and the massacre of Muslim men and boys at the UN-protected enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995, in which about 8,000 people died.
His trial is expected to last for up to two years and he faces a maximum sentence of life in jail if convicted.
Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade last July after 13 years on the run.
He had been posing as a New Age healer named Dr Dragan Dabic, and had disguised himself with thick glasses, a bushy beard and straggly grey hair.
Prosecutors had wanted to try Karadzic alongside his wartime military chief, General Ratko Mladic, but he has yet to be caught.
PHOTO CAPTION
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic attends a hearing at the United Nations tribunal in The Hague in this August 29, 2008 file photo.
Al-Jazeera
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