THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, March 18 (Hina) - The president of the Hague war crimes tribunal, Theodor Meron, issued an order on Thursday to hold a hearing in the case of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic so as to establish if the
defendant agrees to the trial continuing with a new judge expected to replace Richard May, who is ill.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, March 18 (Hina) - The president of the Hague war
crimes tribunal, Theodor Meron, issued an order on Thursday to hold a
hearing in the case of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic so
as to establish if the defendant agrees to the trial continuing with a
new judge expected to replace Richard May, who is ill.#L#
The hearing, due to take place on March 25, has been scheduled to
confirm if the accused agrees to proceedings continuing with a new
judge, the tribunal said in a statement.
Under the tribunal's rules, at the current stage in the Milosevic
trial proceedings may be ordered to continue with a new judge only
with the defendant's consent. Otherwise, the trial might be repeated.
If the accused denies his consent, the other judges may decide to
continue the trial with a new judge if they unanimously assess that
this is in the interest of justice.
Milosevic's counsel Dragan Ognjenovic has said recently that his
client will not object to the trial continuing with a new judge.
The Milosevic trial began on 12 February 2000. He is charged with 66
counts of genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and crimes against humanity
in Croatia and Kosovo, committed in the 1990s.
(Hina) ha sb