[JURIST] Judge Iain Bonomy [official profile] of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] on Tuesday warned former Bosnian Serb leader and war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic [ICTY materials; JURIST news archive] not to cause any delays in his trial and gave him 14 days [order, PDF] to respond to a motion to amend [text, PDF; JURIST report] the indictment against him. Karadzic is representing himself and was directed to comply with all deadlines set by the ICTY in his case. According to Bonomy's order, the 14-day deadline will take effect when the prosecution has provided Karadzic with materials supporting its motion to amend the initial indictment [text]. BBC News has more. From Serbia, B92 has additional coverage.

Earlier this month, Karadzic asked prosecutors to release information [JURIST report] regarding an alleged immunity deal with former US ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke [PBS profile]. In September, ICTY prosecutors filed the motion to amend Karadzic's indictment, as was planned [JURIST report] earlier that month. The existing indictment contains 11 charges against Karadzic, including genocide, murder, persecution, deportation and "other inhumane acts." The proposed amendments would narrow the indictment with the intent of calling fewer witnesses to testify and simplifying the trial. Karadzic was arrested [JURIST report] in July after evading capture for nearly 13 years. He was originally indicted in 1995 but had been in hiding under an assumed identity as an alternative medicine practitioner [BBC report]. He repeatedly refused to enter a plea on the charges, with an ICTY judge eventually entering a not guilty plea [JURIST reports] on his behalf. If the court approves the amended indictment, Karadzic will be asked to enter new pleas.