BELGRADE: Captured Bosnian Serb genocide suspect Radovan Karadzic is to defend himself before the UN war crimes court, his lawyer said on Wednesday, raising memories of the trial of his late ally, Slobodan Milosevic.

Karadzic, who stands indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity, was arrested in Belgrade on Monday, having evaded capture for more than a decade partly thanks to a fake identity as an alternative health guru. The Bosnian Serb political leader during the 1990s Bosnian war was a close ally of then Yugoslav president Milosevic, who was also indicted for war crimes and had chosen to defend himself before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Milosevic’s manipulation of the role was blamed for making his trial one of the longest in international legal history at more than four years. The Serbian strongman died in custody in The Hague in 2006 before a verdict was delivered.

“Karadzic will have a legal team in Serbia that will help him with his defence but he will defend himself” at the ICTY, his lawyer Svetozar Vujacic said. Vujacic had said on Tuesday he would file an appeal against Karadzic being sent to the court, in a bid to postpone the transfer for as long as possible.

“I will lodge the complaint on the last day of the deadline, on Friday. I do not think it will be adopted, but I will disrupt their plans to transfer him,” Vujacic said, estimating Karadzic might not be transferred “before the end of next week.”

Under Serbia’s law on cooperation with the ICTY, suspects can appeal their transfer to the UN war crimes tribunal before a special committee approves the move.

The process could take up to nine days, but Serbia’s war crimes prosecution has said it expects Karadzic to be sent to the UN court by Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

Since his arrest, the public’s imagination has been captured by the reports of the fake identity Karadzic forged as an alternative medicine guru which enabled him to avoid being detected for so long.

The 63-year-old had made himself virtually unrecognisable in order eke out a living through the practise under the false name of Dragan Dabic, deceiving naturopaths, health writers, landlords and many more.

He disguised himself under flowing white hair, a thick beard, glasses and a white Panama hat, enabling him to move freely throughout Belgrade and several Serbian towns.

One Serbian daily described the look as that of a “Loveable Guru”.

Karadzic used public transport, even appeared on television and drank at cafes in downtown Belgrade’s main boulevard with his new colleagues.

But after leading many astray for the best part of the past year, Karadzic was finally tracked down and nabbed by security forces on a suburban bus in the Serbian capital after an apparent tip-off.

Speaking to AFP, lawyer Vujacic said his client now looked like the Karadzic of old after having his hair and beard trimmed. “He’s looking good. He had a hair cut, he shaved himself, and is in great shape. He now looks just like before,” Vujacic said.