Milosevic team seek year to present evidence
Slobodan Milosevic’s prosecutors today asked the UN war crimes tribunal for a lengthy extension of their deadline to present their case against the former Yugoslav president.
Geoffrey Nice QC said the prosecution would need 200 more trial days to present evidence supporting the 66 charges against Milosevic, including genocide, allegedly committed during the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
The trial in The Hague, which began in February 2002, has held 162 sessions so far, in one of the most complex cases ever tried under international criminal law.
The three-judge panel has set a deadline of May 16 for the prosecution to wind up. “We have simply done our best to work in those constraints, but now it is impossible”, said Mr Nice.
Thirty trial days have been lost because of Milosevic’s illnesses. The court said the prosecution will be paid back for cancelled sessions.
But presiding judge Richard May deferred a ruling on the request for additional time because of the absence of judge Patrick Robinson, who was ill.
If granted, the additional 200 days would mean an extension of nearly a year before Milosevic, who is acting as his own lawyer, would even begin to present his defence case.
The trial normally convenes for nine days in every two weeks, with a one month summer break plus holidays.
One reason for the trial’s slow progress is the amount of time the judges grant Milosevic for cross-examination in an effort to appear fair.
A prosecution spokeswoman says Milosevic has spent more hours questioning prosecution witness than the prosecutors have.
