Ratko Mladic thrown out of court after he rants at judge

Genocide suspect Ratko Mladic was removed from the UN war crimes court today after refusing to enter a plea and disrupting the judge's attempts to read out the charges against him.

Judge Alphons Orie later entered formal not-guilty pleas on behalf of the former Bosnian Serb army chief, who stands accused of crimes against humanity.

Mladic appeared at his second hearing in The Hague despite having threatened to boycott it. But he spent several minutes demanding different legal representation and requesting a delay before having to plead.

When the judge began reading out the charges, Mladic removed his translation headphones and shouted: "No, no, I'm not going to listen to this without my lawyer. Who are you? You're not allowing me to breathe." He was represented by a court-appointed lawyer. The judge said the court would look into allowing him to be represented by other lawyers of his choice.

Mladic, 69, was arrested and extradited from Serbia in May after 16 years on the run.

He is accused of a campaign to seize territory for Serbs during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, and faces charges over the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo.

Serge Brammertz, prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, has said Mladic used his power to commit atrocities.

The former general has rejected the charges as "obnoxious" and "monstrous", claiming he only defended his country and people.

Mladic, who has said he is "gravely ill", is no longer in the prison hospital and plays chess with other detainees.