[ALBSA-Info] Milosevic Talks With Lawyer

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Milosevic Talks With Lawyer

By ROBERT H. REID

  
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Slobodan Milosevic will refuse legal 
representation when he appears Tuesday before the U.N. war crimes tribunal, 
maintaining the court is part of a Western conspiracy to exterminate the Serb 
people, his lawyers said. 

In a landmark move, Milosevic will appear Tuesday before a three-judge panel 
to answer charges that he was responsible for the murders and expulsions 
carried out by his forces during the brutal crackdown against Kosovo 
Albanians two years ago. 

Milosevic, who was transferred here Friday by the pro-democracy government of 
Yugoslavia's republic Serbia, will become the first former head of state to 
stand trial for alleged crimes committed during his rule. 

On the eve of his appearance, Milosevic conferred for three hours with two 
Yugoslav lawyers at the Dutch prison where he and the 38 other Yugoslav war 
crimes defendants are being held. 

Afterward, lawyers Zdenko Tomanovic and Dragan Krgovic told reporters that 
Milosevic refuses to accept the validity of the court, established in 1993 by 
the U.N. Security Council to prosecute those believed responsible for crimes 
committed during Balkan wars which the United States and its allies believe 
he instigated 

``Mr. Milosevic does not recognize The Hague tribunal,'' Tomanovic said. 
Milosevic believes the tribunal ``is part of a mechanism to commit genocide 
on the Serb people.'' 

``He is not going to appoint any lawyer,'' Tomanovic added. He said Milosevic 
would refuse legal representation during the arraignment and the trial 
expected to begin next year. 

Tomanovic said Milosevic would appear in court for the arraignment - although 
he has the right not to do so under tribunal rules. The lawyers said 
Milosevic would try to make a public statement but if the judges cut him off, 
they would release a text ``of what he wanted to say.'' 

It appeared that Milosevic intends to argue that his only crime was to stand 
up against NATO, a defense unlikely to win points with the court but which he 
believes will bolster his reputation among his own people. 

The U.S. has provided evidence concerning Milosevic to the U.N. War Crimes 
Tribunal and is prepared to provide additional information, according to the 
U.S. State Department. 

Tribunal spokesman Jim Landale confirmed that Milosevic, himself a lawyer, 
had refused his right to counsel. 

``He has advised us he does not wish to have defense counsel present 
tomorrow,'' Landale said. ``We have advised him against this, but it's his 
right.'' 

Tomanovic would not say whether Milosevic intended to enter a plea. Landale 
said that if a defendant refuses to enter a plea, the court will wait 30 days 
and then enter a ``not guilty'' plea for him. 

The uncertainty over Milosevic's next moves reflected a style that the wily 
tactician employed repeatedly during his 13 years in power - keeping his 
opponents off guard with moves they often didn't expect. 

In Belgrade, about 15,000 flag-waving supporters of Milosevic's Socialist and 
allied ultra-nationalist Radical party gathered in front of the downtown 
federal parliament Monday in the biggest protest since the former ruler was 
extradited. 

Protesters demanded new elections, hoping they would unseat the pro-democracy 
government of Serbia, the main Yugoslav republic, whose leaders handed 
Milosevic to the tribunal. 

Milosevic's allies in Belgrade claim the former president, who was forced 
from power in October, believed he was being persecuted because he stood up 
to NATO, refusing to sign a power-sharing deal with Kosovo Albanians in 1999. 

That triggered a 78-day NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, which ended 
with the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo and the handing over of 
the Serbian province to the United Nations and NATO. 

Citing NATO's role, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark offered to aid 
in Milosevic's defense. Clark told reporters in Belgrade he was considering 
joining Milosevic's defense team but that he would insist that Yugoslav 
lawyers take the lead. 

Clark, who had been an outspoken opponent of NATO's bombing campaign of 
Yugoslavia, said he was holding talks with Milosevic's lawyers. He said the 
United Nations, ``coerced by the USA,'' was behind the charges against 
Milosevic. He said he had not spoken with the former president. 

The extradition, spearheaded by Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, 
triggered a crisis in the Yugoslav government. Yugoslav President Vojislav 
Kostunica and other Serb pro-democracy leaders held talks Monday about the 
composition of a reshuffled Yugoslav Cabinet, following the resignation last 
week of the Yugoslav prime minister, Zoran Zizic, over the extradition. 

Milosevic and four close aides were indicted by the tribunal in May 1999 on 
four charges in connection with a crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. 
The crackdown began in early 1998 and ended in June 1999 

Plans call for Milosevic to appear Tuesday in a compact courtroom in the gray 
tribunal building in an outlying district of this coastal city.