THE HAGUE (AFP) - The two lawyers imposed on former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic have asked to be removed from his war crimes trial, a spokeswoman for their legal offices in London told AFP.
"An application has been made to leave representation (at the Milosevic trial)," Kirsten Johnson at Steven Kay's London legal offices, said.
"Until the court makes a decision on the they will continue to be involved in the case," she added.
British lawyers Kay and his associate Gillian Higgins were on September 2 assigned to defend Milosevic, who faces more than 60 counts of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide over the Bosnian, Croatian and Kosovo wars, because judges ruled the former president's health was too fragile to go on acting as his own lawyer.
In an appeals hearing against their own assignment the lawyers told the court last week that they were unable to present a proper defence for Milosevic because he refused to cooperate with them.
Officially the lawyers cannot resign without the court's approval because they are court appointed. It is not known when the court will rule on the application.
"We are entirely in the hands of the court," Johnson said.
10/27/2004 - 10:12 GMT - AFP