US presidential candidate to testify at Milosevic trial
US presidential candidate Wesley Clark began two days of closed-door testimony in Slobodan Milosevic’s war crimes trial today, in a confrontation between former wartime foes who are both vying for political office in their home countries.
Clark, a retired four-star general and formerly NATO’s supreme commander, was expected to testify on his years of engagement with Milosevic, culminating in a 78-day air campaign in 1999 against Milosevic’s troops in Kosovo.
Milosevic, defending himself against 66 counts of war crimes, will be looking to undermine Clark’s credibility as a prosecution witness.
The court hearing in the Hague comes at an important time for Clark as he competes for the Democratic nomination in presidential elections.
“It’s very important that international law is followed and that leaders who violate international law are held accountable,” Clark said at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
Clark declined to discuss specifics of his testimony, but said he can offer unique insight into the tactics of the former Yugoslav leader, who was ousted in 2000 and later extradited to the UN war crimes tribunal.
Milosevic is charged with war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo during the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Prosecutors have called hundreds of witnesses, but Clark will be the most senior US official to testify at Milosevic’s trial, which began in February 2002.
They are hoping Clark will back up their contention that Milosevic was aware of Serbian wartime atrocities, such as the massacre of thousands of Muslim civilians in Srebrenica, Bosnia, and failed to prevent them or punish those responsible.
The majority of the trial has been public, but the US government was granted a request that Clark’s appearance be closed for security reasons.
The visitors' gallery was empty today, and the television screens that normally show the trial in the building were blank.
