The prosecution snatched back the initiative in the trial of Radovan Karadzic yesterday, just a day after he appeared to have secured it by refusing to appear in court. In the battle of wills it was the court that came out on top, showing that it would not let a second day be lost to his empty-chair protest.

The prosecution was allowed to begin and it made a compelling start. The phone transcripts that it presented were filled with the threats of mass slaughter that will help to build the case for genocide — the most difficult of the charges to prove. There have been very few successful prosecutions for it, with Dr Karadzic’s mentor Slobodan Milosevic escaping judgment when he died of a heart attack in custody.

Prosecutors must trace the chain of command from Dr Karadzic’s vile threats to the systematic slaughter on the ground. That will take hours of evidence, and he is determined to disrupt the process.

The issue of his boycott remains unresolved. The prosecution could proceed with its opening statement because it was deemed not to be evidence, the presentation of which requires a defence counsel. Judge O-Gon Kwon warned that Karadzic would waive his right to represent himself if he did not show up on Monday. The judge could appoint a legal representative, but a new counsel will need weeks if not months to learn the defence case.

The date of next Wednesday set aside for the first witness now seems highly unrealistic. It means that Dr Karadzic will get some of the extra time he wants, and frustrate the hopes of victims for a timely trial. Though he can delay the proceedings he cannot erase the evidence against him. Much of it has already been established by the trials of his generals and acolytes, and much of it, as seen yesterday, comes in the chilling form of his own brutal and hate-filled words.

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