MILOSEVIC TRIAL RESUMES ON MONDAY

ZAGREB, Aug 24 (Hina) - The trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic before the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague (ICTY) continues on Monday after a three-week summer recess. #L# Milosevic is charged with genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and war crimes and crimes against humanity in Croatia and Kosovo. The trial started on 12 February 2002. The trial is conducted by a three-member panel of judges presided by British judge Richard May. Milosevic is presenting his own defence. From February to September 2002, the prosecution, headed by Geoffrey Nice, presented evidence for the Kosovo indictment, introducing as evidence 124 witness statements. The presentation of evidence for the indictment referring to Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which started in September 2002, has so far included the testimonies of some 80 of a total of 179 witnesses. Most testimonies referred to crimes committed in Croatia. At the end of March this year, the prosecution decided to start calling to the witness stand witnesses from Bosnia- Herzegovina as well. The initial deadline for the completion of evidence presentation was 16 May 2003. However, due to frequent postponements caused by Milosevic's health problems, the prosecution was given an additional 54 days and on May 20 it was granted another 100 days to present evidence. If the prosecution manages to meet this deadline, the presentation of evidence will be completed in January or February 2004, by which time some 100 witnesses should give testimonies. ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said this week that Milosevic's trial would be completed by the end of 2004 or the beginning of 2005. However, if the tribunal grants Milosevic's request that he be given the same amount of time to present his defence as the prosecution (two years), the trial could last until 2006. While after the presentation of evidence for Kosovo Del Ponte expressed satisfaction with its course, she has now admitted the existence of some procedural problems in proving the genocide indictment for Bosnia. Those problems refer to the introduction of some evidence of the prosecution, such as transcripts of tapped conversations between Milosevic and Bosnian Serb leaders, which the prosecution unsuccessfully tried to introduce as evidence during the testimony of a former member of the Bosnian Presidency, Stjepan Kljujic, in July this year. Despite problems, the prosecution has managed to introduce as evidence thousands of pages of witness statements and documents proving Milosevic's key role in the 1991-1995 Serb aggression on Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. A number of insider witnesses, including his close associates, have confirmed that Milosevic committed the crimes from the indictment in cooperation with the Yugoslav People's Army, the Serbian Interior Ministry and its State Security Service, and the leadership of Croatian and Bosnian Serbs and their forces, which he controlled and financed. Among the witnesses was a number of experts and representatives of the international community, diplomats and top officials from ex- Yugoslav countries, including Croatian President Stjepan Mesic. Although they were not as attractive to the media as testimonies by said officials, the most poignant statements were given by ordinary people, who in the 1990s became victims of the criminal plan of the intellectual, political and military leadership from Belgrade, headed by Milosevic. Regardless of whether they testified about the crimes in Vukovar, Skabrnja, Dubrovnik or Srebrenica, Zvornik and Prijedor, they all spoke about what transpired to be almost the same pattern of causing conflicts, attacks, mass killings, persecution and ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs. Rather than challenging their statements, while cross-examining the witnesses, Milosevic focused on proving that other ex-Yugoslav peoples were equally or more responsible for the war. While doing so, he addressed the TV audience in Serbia more than the court. Milosevic's trial is covered live by Serbian television. (hina) rml