THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Nov 19 (Hina) - In the continuation of his testimony in the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic before the Hague war crimes tribunal on Wednesday, prosecution witness Borisav Jovic reverted to his
earlier role as one of the closest aides to the accused, confirming nearly all of his claims.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Nov 19 (Hina) - In the continuation of his
testimony in the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan
Milosevic before the Hague war crimes tribunal on Wednesday,
prosecution witness Borisav Jovic reverted to his earlier role as
one of the closest aides to the accused, confirming nearly all of
his claims. #L#
During the cross-examination, Jovic agreed with most of
Milosevic's claims, such as that the government in Belgrade did not
try to carry out a plan to create a Greater Serbia, that decisions by
the presidency of the SFRY (former Yugoslav federation) were
constitutional, and that the wars in Croatia and then in Bosnia-
Herzegovina came about thanks to the late presidents Franjo Tudjman
of Croatia and Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Answering Milosevic's questions, Jovic would start off by saying
"That's true" and would proceed to confirm the allegations of
Milosevic, who is charged with genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and
crimes against humanity in Croatia and Kosovo.
Milosevic and Jovic agreed in court that the government in Serbia
and the Serbian members of the federal government had only asked for
"equality of the Serb people in republics outside the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia, which comprised Serbia and Montenegro.
"There was no other plan," Jovic said.
Responding to a question by Milosevic, Jovic confirmed that the
Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts was not a
programme for the unification of all Serbs in a single state, adding
that the Serbian leadership was "disappointed" when it was
published.
Jovic said Milosevic could not influence the decisions of the SFRY
presidency and the work of other federal bodies, including the then
federal defence minister Veljko Kadijevic or the Yugoslav People's
Army (JNA).
Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice said he was aware that the accused had
planned to call Jovic as a defence witness, but that the prosecution
subpoenaed him in order to introduce his book, "The Last Days of the
SFRY", into evidence. Since Jovic more often acted as a witness for
the defence than for the prosecution, Nice asked the trial chamber
to reduce the cross-examination time since the accused had been
granted more than seven hours for the cross-examination.
The trial chamber ruled that the accused should complete the cross-
examination on Thursday. The hearing will also be held on Friday
when Jovic will be examined by amici curiae (friends of court) and
additionally by the prosecutor.
(hina) vm sb