MILOSEVIC REFUSES TO GIVE STATEMENT TO BELGRADE INVESTIGATORS

BELGRADE, Aug 7 (Hina) - Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, on trial for war crimes before the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, has not given a statement to investigating judges of a special department of the Belgrade District Court in an investigation into the murder of Ivan Stambolic in 2000 and the attempted murder of Vuk Draskovic in 1999, because his request that the recording of his hearing be made public in full has not been accepted, Milosevic's attorney Sanja Pejovic said on Thursday. #L# "Milosevic only requested minimum publicity regarding his statement, namely that it be recorded and that the investigating judge approve, with the consent of the special investigator, that the video and audio recording of his statement be broadcast only upon completion of the investigation, so as not to disturb the course of the investigation," Radio B92 quoted Milosevic's attorney as saying to the Srna agency. Zdenko Tomanovic, Milosevic's counsel in the trial before the UN tribunal, said Milosevic did not insist on live television coverage of the hearing, but offered investigative bodies to decide which elements of his statement would be classified confidential. The special investigator and the investigating judge did not even accept that the content of the statement be made public upon completion of the investigation, Tomanovic said. The investigators from Belgrade have questioned in Scheveningen indictee Vojislav Seselj as part of an investigation into the murder of Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic on March 12, however, his statement is not available to the public. (hina) rml