Judges in the genocide and war crimes trial of Radovan Karadzic ordered prosecutors to start making their case against the former Bosnian Serb leader on Tuesday, even though he again defied the court by refusing to leave his detention cell.

Mr Karadzic, 64, is defending himself, so his refusal for the second day to attend means he was unrepresented in court. The biggest trial at the United Nations-backed tribunal in The Hague since the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president, is as a result missing a sense of occasion and may later face legal challenges.