Defending a Person Charged with Genocide

In August 1997, I was asked to represent Dr. Milan Kovacevic, a Bosnian Serb anesthesiologist who had been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia ("ICTY") for complicity in genocide. Had he lived through it, his trial would have been the first by the ICTY for the crime of genocide. I would like to describe some of the tribulations of defending clients accused of grave humanitarian offenses in the ICTY. Perhaps by relating stories of my experiences there, some insights for reform can be drawn.

First, I will begin with the background of the case itself.