Judges reject Milosevic acquittal
UN war crimes judges today dismissed a motion to acquit former Yugoslav President Milosevic of genocide.
The ruling meant Milosevic will have to defend himself against the genocide charges when he opens his case for the defence, scheduled for July 5 in The Hague .
It came in response to a motion from three “friends of the court” who argued that the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the genocide charges and asked the court for an immediate dismissal of those charges.
The friends of the court were appointed to ensure fair proceedings against the former Serbian leader, whose trial began in February 2002.
Milosevic is acting as his own defence lawyer against a total of 66 charges.
While the court said the genocide charges would stand, it agreed with the motion to dismiss several specific allegations relating to the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.
