Radovan Karadzic genocide trial begins in The Hague

Karadzic is boycotting the opening of the trial in a defiant gesture against what he considers a rush to justice by the UN court prosecuting him.

His refusal to show up at the Yugoslav tribunal is a blow to survivors who hold him responsible for tens of thousands of deaths during the brutal 1992-95 Bosnian war.

The prosecution and defence will each have one year to present their case in the trial.

Observers agree that the 64-year-old Karadzic's absence from Courtroom One at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal should not overshadow the case's significance. Karadzic's trial is seen as a chance for the tribunal to make amends for Milosevic's ill-fated trial, which dragged on for four years before his fatal heart attack.

Almost 200 survivors of the Bosnian war are at The Hague to witness the opening of the trial for genocide.

Members of a victims' association who made the journey from Sarajevo to the Netherlands are determined to see justice done with their own eyes.