[ALBSA-Info] Milosevic trial must be seen as fair, papers say

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Milosevic trial must be seen as fair, papers say

  
LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - With Slobodan Milosevic hauled into the dock at 
The Hague, a gloating West might think it has finally defeated an arch foe. 

But European newspapers warned the international community on Wednesday to 
make sure the former Yugoslav president gets a trial that was both fair and 
seen to be fair. 

Some said the West's own past deeds would also be in the spotlight and 
accused it of double standards, pointing out that for years its leaders 
negotiated with Milosevic and still deal politely with politicians involved 
in other bloody conflicts. 

"A trial that is seen as 'victor's justice' serves neither the case of 
humanity nor that of political catharsis for Serbia," wrote The Times of 
London. 

It said the victors would determine the framework of the proceedings at the 
U.N. war crimes court, as the allies did at Nuremberg after World War Two. 

"But the validity of these hearings depends, crucially, on the court allowing 
Mr Milosevic the representation, transparency and opportunity to challenge 
the evidence which he and the Nuremberg defendants denied their victims," the 
newspaper said. 

Serbia handed Milosevic over last week to the Hague court, which arraigned 
him on Tuesday on charges related to killings of Kosovo Albanians in 1999. 
Indictments relating to the earlier Bosnian and Croatian wars may follow. 

Britain's Daily Mail, in a commentary entitled "The West on trial," said that 
having spent millions bringing Milosevic to court, the West must not fail 
now. 

"The tribunal is as much on trial as Milosevic himself...The chorus of 
self-congratulation which greeted the news of his extradition last week will 
ring hollow indeed if, at the end of it all, justice is not seen to be done," 
it commented. 

Milosevic will appear in court again in August but a trial is not expected 
before next year. 

WEST SHARES BLAME? 

Vecer newspaper in Slovenia, the republic that escaped most easily from 
former Yugoslavia 10 years ago, said that instead of staying defiantly 
silent, Milosevic should use his grandstand to show how Western leaders went 
along with him for so long. 

"He will waste probably his last chance for sharing at least part of the 
responsibility with those who assisted his fatal policy, either by doing 
nothing or with their unreadiness to intervene when necessary," its editorial 
said. 

"There is no cause for smug words about a victory of justice," wrote 
Germany's Berliner Zeitung. 

"It will quickly be shown that the trial against Milosevic will not only 
confront the Serbs with their recent past, but also show that politicians in 
the West have to face their responsibility...They will have to answer many 
questions." 

Britain's Independent said the proceedings sent a clear message to the 
world's despots that "a crime is a crime, whoever it is committed by." 

Both French and Greek newspapers questioned why, if that were the case, the 
West still dealt lightly with other leaders. 

"The sight of (Milosevic in court) should prompt European authorities to show 
more decency and firmness in their relations with regimes which, like that of 
(Russian President) Vladimir Putin in Chechnya, use barbaric methods against 
civilians," wrote a Le Monde columnist. 

The Paris paper's front-page cartoon showed a blood-drenched Milosevic 
wearing a butcher's apron, carrying a cleaver and saying "not guilty." 

One columnist in the Athens daily Kathimerini argued that the West was 
two-faced in its dealing with Milosevic, and illustrated his point with an 
imaginary but unlikely scenario. 

He depicted a deposed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in front of the 
Hague court, charged with massacring Palestinians in 1982 while he was 
defence minister. 

A new Israeli premier explained that Israel had had to extradite him or face 
a U.S. economic embargo. 

Newspapers in Russia, whose leaders backed Milosevic after the West turned 
against him, gave scant coverage to the trial. 

Izvestia said the exchanges between Milosevic and court chairman Richard May 
sounded like a "dialogue of the deaf."