THE HAGUE, 3 September 2003 — A UN court refused yesterday to free Slobodan Milosevic to allow him to prepare his defense against charges of war crimes during the bloody break-up of the Balkans in the 1990s, which the former Yugoslav president said would take two years.
Milosevic, who is organizing his own defense in the trial, asked to be released to enable him to have direct, unfettered access to potential witnesses and documents to defend himself on more than 60 counts of war crimes.
“The most modest amount of time that is necessary to prepare my defense is two years,” Milosevic told the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague, where his trial has been running since February 2002. But the president of the court Richard May denied his request, saying there was no reason to change an earlier ruling against his release.
May also rejected Milosevic’s request for two years’ preparation time, saying there was “no question” of suspending the trial for that length of time.
The court will decide at a later stage how long Milosevic should have to prepare his defense.
The 62-year-old Milosevic faces charges of genocide, other war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in the three wars that tore apart the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s — Croatia (1991-95), Bosnia (1992-95) and Kosovo (1998-99).
For the conflict in Bosnia, which left more than 200,000 dead, he is charged with a count of genocide, the gravest of war crimes.
Milosevic’s court appearance yesterday was intended to allow him to outline the defense strategy he intends to follow after the prosecution has finished putting its case.
Looking pale and drawn, his features pulled into a wily, mocking expression, Milosevic immediately launched into one of his by now customary tirades against the court and its proceedings.
“I do not recognize this court. This trial is not a trial,” he fired out, before he was cut short by the tribunal president.
Already the case has lasted longer than any other in the history of the tribunal, and has been plagued with awkward interruptions, with Milosevic falling ill with flu or high blood pressure problems nine times so far.
The prosecution is due to take until the end of the year to finish setting out its case, in which 230 witnesses have been brought forward so far, at which point Milosevic will put his own defense case to the court.
That process is expected to last well into 2005.
At the start of his trial nearly two years ago, one of Milosevic’s advisers suggested that more than 1,000 people were ready to testify on his behalf.
Milosevic himself has vowed to summon high-profile witnesses including French President Jacques Chirac and US former President Bill Clinton.
If any of his chosen witnesses refuse to testify, May has the final say on whether to order them to appear.
Even though experts feel the prosecution case is going well, the general public has had great difficulty following the marathon trial, which has been touted as a historical precedent for international justice.
Many witnesses give evidence on very detailed points or speak in sessions closed to the public, while cross-examinations by Milosevic are long and mostly focus on political developments seemingly far removed from the charges.
Last week, as Milosevic’s trial resumed after a three-week break, the court heard testimony from a soldier who took part in the 1995 massacre of thousands of Muslims at Srebrenica, Europe’s worst single atrocity since World War II.
More than 7,000 Muslim men and boys were summarily executed after Bosnian Serb forces took the UN declared safe area of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995.
The former president vehemently denies any connection with the bloodbath.
