THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Nov 12 (Hina) - The trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic before the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague was on Tuesday postponed, for the second time this month, due to his deteriorated health
condition.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Nov 12 (Hina) - The trial of former Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic before the UN war crimes tribunal in
The Hague was on Tuesday postponed, for the second time this month,
due to his deteriorated health condition. #L#
At the start of the hearing on Tuesday morning the trial chamber's
president, Judge Richard May, said the authorities of the detention
unit informed him that Milosevic had said he was feeling tired and
that his blood pressure was high.
Therefore the trial was postponed indefinitely.
On Tuesday, the prosecution was to call the 13th witness in the
Croatian part of Milosevic's trial. This witness, whose identity is
protected and he is referred as C-036, is expected to testify at
least six days.
On Monday, the trial resumed after a break which lasted more than a
week owing to the poor health of the defendant.
Yesterday, Milosevic very attentively followed the testimony of
another witness of the prosecution. In the afternoon he called on
the trial chamber to release him temporarily due to his health
problems.
Milosevic asserted that the judges were aware that he would not
escape because he would not "abandon this fight and rigged
political process at any cost."
He, however, turned down a proposal of the prosecutors that the ICTY
(International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia)
appoint, because of his poor health condition, his defence lawyers
so as to facilitate his defence. At the start of his trial Milosevic
chose to defend himself in a show of contempt for the Hague
tribunal.
The trial was previously postponed also due to Milosevic's high
blood pressure.
A member of the trial chamber, Patrick Lipton Robinson, on Tuesday
proposed that the prosecution give its opinion on a possibility of
abridging the indictment to the effect that the trial might wrap up
as soon as possible.
The trial commenced exactly nine months ago with the process for the
Kosovo part of the indictment.
In September, the prosecution began the presentation of the
evidence concerning the Croatian part of the indictment. The last
section should refer to the Bosnian part in which Milosevic is
accused of genocide.
(hina) ms