ROME, Aug 21 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor of the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Carla del Ponte, has announced in a newspaper interview that the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic
would be completed at the end of 2004 or the beginning of 2005.
ROME, Aug 21 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor of the Hague-based UN war
crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Carla del Ponte, has
announced in a newspaper interview that the trial of former
Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic would be completed at the end
of 2004 or the beginning of 2005. #L#
In an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera
published on Thursday, Del Ponte said that the prosecution would
present its evidence before the end of this year, and that at the
beginning of the next year Milosevic would start presenting his
evidence.
Responding to the question that many legal experts believed that it
would be hard to prove that the former Serbian leader was
responsible for genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the prosecutor
acknowledged the existence of certain procedural difficulties.
"In the case of Srebrenica, we already have a judgement against
General Krstic which says that it was genocide. As for Milosevic,
the evidence we had at the time of issuing the indictment was
sufficient, but now we have procedural difficulties to present it
in the courtroom.
"I would never have taken on the responsibility of deciding not to
charge Milosevic with genocide just because it would be hard to
prove it in the courtroom," Del Ponte said.
(hina) vm