UN war crimes tribunal judges today ordered a psychiatric evaluation of Mr Slobodan Milosevic to gauge the mental strain his trial is taking on him, the Hague-based court said.
Mr Milosevic, who has suffered from bouts of flu, exhaustion and high blood pressure, was unable to attend the trial yesterday because of poor health. Trial proceedings have been called off for the rest of this week as a result.
"The trial chamber... hereby orders the (court) registrar to obtain and provide to the Trial Chamber within 14 days, a written psychiatric report," the panel of three judges said in a statement.
The judges also called for a cardiologist to provide a medical report within seven days giving a prognosis of Mr Milosevic's future health and ability to attend court. Doctors warned earlier this year that he was at risk of heart disease.
Mr Milosevic (61) chose to mount his defence himself against charges of ethnic cleansing in the Balkans in the 1990s, in a show of contempt for the tribunal. The trial opened in February.
His poor health has halted proceedings in The Hague five times in nine months, and prosecutors have called on the court to impose a defence lawyer on the former Yugoslav president. Mr Milosevic has accused prosecutors of trying to gag him.
Judges said they had ordered the expert medical reports after the detention unit's doctor had examined Mr Milosevic yesterday.
Mr Milosevic was kept on suicide watch in his cell in the UN's detention block near The Hague for several weeks after Belgrade handed him over to the court last June. Both his parents killed themselves.