Radovan Karadzic is expected to launch an appeal Friday to block his extradition from Serbia to a United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
A three-day deadline to file the appeal will end Friday night. Karadzic's legal team has said they would mail the appeal papers five minutes before the post office closes.
His lawyer, Sveta Vujacic, said filing the appeal late Friday would help prolong the extradition period for his client.
"He's hoping to buy time for Karadzic to see his family before he is taken to court in the Netherlands," journalist Dada Jovanovic told CTV's Canada AM from Belgrade on Friday.
"It is said that Karadzic's wife, Ljiljana, is in really poor health and it will be the last chance for her to see her husband."
Vujacic has also filed a separate lawsuit against his client's alleged "abductors." The legal manoeuvre may stall the process to move Karadzic to the UN court.
Vujacic had said earlier that Karadzic plans to defend himself if he is extradited for trial before an international war crimes tribunal in the Netherlands.
A panel of judges in Serbia will rule on the extradition appeal, but the case will then be handed over to the Serbian government. It will then decide whether or not to issue the final extradition order.
Karadzic is wanted on 11 charges, including genocide and crimes against humanity for allegedly leading ethnic cleansing campaigns against Croats and Muslims in the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.
The psychiatrist-turned-Serbian-nationalist is accused of masterminding the deadly wartime siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 executions of about 8,000 Muslim boys and men in Srebrenica.
Known by some as the "Butcher of Bosnia," he was captured Monday in Serbia after more than a decade on the run.
An Australian newspaper reported Friday that Karadzic had been working in Vienna, Austria, as a "miracle healer" during part of his time underground. The paper quoted an unnamed married couple who said they encountered Karadzic in mid-2006.
The fugitive called himself "Pera" and saw them after they had difficulty conceiving. He apparently would see patients in the homes of Serbian ex-patriots, and stay with Serb families for stretches lasting no more than three days.
While in Belgrade, Karadzic allegedly lived under the name Dragan Dabic. When he was captured, he had a thick white beard, long hair, and wore glasses. Karadzic was virtually unrecognizable from the figure featured in news stories during the civil strife in the former Yugoslavia in the mid-1990s.
Although his look had changed, Jovanovic noted Karadzic did not act like one of the world's most wanted fugitives during his years in hiding.
"He held lectures as an expert on mediation and health," she said. "He had his own Facebook page with hundreds of friends on it. He even contributed articles to magazines ... (and) he even had a girlfriend."
With files from The Associated Press
