Milosevic still denying war crimes
Slobodan Milosevic today phoned his family from The Hague prison, denying the war crimes charges and saying he was ‘‘fine and healthy’’, the former president’s lawyer said.
‘‘In the phone call from jail, he said he was kidnapped when taken from Belgrade’s Central Prison yesterday and delivered for trial by the Netherlands-based UN war crimes court, said Branimir Gugl.
‘‘He is denying any guilt,’’ Gugl said of charges filed against him by the tribunal.
‘‘He has a clear conscience and says he had worked in the interest of the Serbian people.’’
Gugl said Milosevic appointed the same 10-member lawyers’ team, which had prepared his defence on local corruption charges in Yugoslavia, to defend him in The Hague. His first appearance before the court is scheduled for Tuesday.
In the phone call, Milosevic said the war crimes trial will be ‘‘political’’ and that his extradition was ‘‘unconstitutional and illegal’’.
In Belgrade, the Yugoslav prime minister and his Montenegrin allies in the federal government resigned, leading to the collapse of the Cabinet.
The move by Zoran Zizic and other former Milosevic allies is likely to lead to early elections on the federal level. It may even hasten a split between Serbia and Montenegro in the Yugoslav federation.
The government crisis came amid rising tensions as thousands of angry Milosevic supporters descended on the capital for a rally to protest at his extradition. Hundreds of riot police were deployed on the streets and parks, anticipating trouble by radical ultranationalists.
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica met army leaders to discuss the mounting tensions. A terse statement after the talks said the crisis ‘‘must be resolved by political means’’.
The chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes tribunal said today the indictment against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic would be enlarged and that other war criminals must be brought to justice.
Carla Del Ponte said the indictment against Milosevic would include more crimes and more victims, but she gave no details.
‘‘The transfer of Slobodan Milosevic is a turning point that all authorities throughout the former Yugoslavia must now recognise,’’ the Swiss prosecutor said in The Hague.
She added said it was ‘‘scandalous’’ that others including General Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military leader, and former Bosnian political leader Radovan Karadzic had not been brought to justice.
The two men remain at large six years after they were indicted by the tribunal.
‘‘Remember that there are still many other accused on other indictments who have not been taken into custody,’’ Del Ponte said. ‘‘All our accused must be brought to trial.’’
She called for ‘‘renewed energy’’ to bring fugitives to justice.
Milosevic’s transfer, arrest and surrender to The Hague showed that ‘‘nobody is above the law,’’ Del Ponte said.
She was speaking as a conference of donor nations met in Brussels to assemble a package for Yugoslavia’s economy, ravaged by a decade of war during Milosevic’s regime.
Asked if a charge of genocide - the most serious war crime - was being considered, Del Ponte said no decision had been taken.
‘‘We are today only at the start of the case against Slobodan Milosevic, not at the end,’’ Del Ponte said.
