Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic ordered and controlled the siege of Sarajevo as well as the mass murder of Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, a UN prosecutor said.

“The accused knew throughout the course of the 44-month siege that his forces were shelling and sniping at civilians, creating conditions of terror for the citizens of Sarajevo,” Alan Tieger told the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague today.

Karadzic, who refuses to attend the trial, is accused with former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic of atrocities against Muslims and Croats during the 1992-1995 Bosnia conflict, including the siege of the Bosnian capital and the massacre of Srebrenica. Mladic, 67, remains at large. Karadzic, 64, faces life in prison if convicted.

“Radovan Karadzic ordered the operation to take Srebrenica, which was a culmination of his efforts to cleanse eastern Bosnia,” Tieger told the court. “In a matter of days the entire Muslim population was forcefully removed from the Srebrenica enclave and more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys were murdered. And the only regret he had about the entire operation was that some Muslim men got away.”

Karadzic, who is defending himself, has boycotted the trial that began Oct. 26 at the United Nations court, saying he needs more time to prepare his case. Karadzic wasn’t present today.

Hearing Continues

“The trial chamber considers Mr. Karadzic’s absence as the voluntary waiver of his right to attend the trial and therefore the chamber will continue hearing the prosecution’s opening statement,” presiding Judge O-Gon Kwon said.

The judge will tomorrow hear from the prosecution and Karadzic, who has said he plans to attend the session, on how to continue with the trial.

Kwon asked both parties to submit comments on whether a lawyer should be assigned to represent the former wartime leader, and how much time the defense would be given to present its case, or whether the trial should be postponed.

Karadzic, a one-time psychiatrist in Sarajevo, refused to enter a plea to any of the 11 charges, including genocide, and disputes the jurisdiction of the court, following an example set by former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Milosevic died in prison in 2006 before his trial was concluded.

Karadzic is held with 35 others at the court’s detention unit in a prison in the nearby seaside resort of Scheveningen. The tribunal was established by a UN Security Council resolution in 1993 to prosecute war crimes committed during the breakup of Yugoslavia. The court has sentenced 60 people and currently has 25 suspects on trial or awaiting trial.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jurjen van de Pol in The Hague jvandepol@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 2, 2009 10:32 EST