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Yugoslav Court Freezes Milosevic Handover
BELGRADE, June 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Serbian authorities scrambled to override a new crisis Thursday as efforts to hand over former president Slobodan Milosevic to a U.N. war crimes tribunal were blocked by Yugoslavia's Constitutional Court.
Serbia's government called an emergency meeting minutes after the court, comprised of pro-Milosevic judges appointed almost a decade ago, froze a June 23rd Yugoslav cabinet decree enabling the transfer of war crimes suspects to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.
The Yugoslav court, which currently has five judges, was ruling on the constitutionality of the decree following an appeal filed by lawyers for Milosevic.
Four ruled in favor of freezing the decree. A fifth judge did not participate. Two positions on the court are vacant.
The court said it would not rule on the constitutionality of the decree before July 12th, a decision which effectively has granted Milosevic a temporary reprieve from trial.
The ICTY has indicted the former president for atrocities committed by Serbian troops in Kosovo - defined as war crimes and crimes against humanity - and the new authorities in Belgrade issued the decree to show good faith to the international community, days before a vital donors' conference for Yugoslavia.
Friday's conference in Brussels, which the United States only announced Wednesday it would attend, is viewed as a crucial step on Yugoslavia's long road back to normalcy after a decade of war, sanctions, international isolation and economic ruin.
The surprise decision by the Constitutional Court to freeze the decree, pending a new examination and a final ruling, brought jubilation from Milosevic's lawyers.
"This is the triumph of justice over violence and nothing will ever be done through violent means again," said Toma Fila, one of Milosevic's lawyers.
Milosevic's Socialist party welcomed the court's ruling, warning that any measures taken before its final decision would constitute a "twisting of the law and the constitution."
"The decision shows a return of confidence to the Constitutional Court, but also support for the Serbian justice system to free itself from the pressures of the [ruling coalition] DOS political committee," said top party official Zoran Andjelkovic.
Andjelkovic insisted the party remained "confident that the final decision by the court would also be positive and that it will confirm that the decree is unconstitutional and will not be applied."
But the Serbian government called an emergency meeting, and one minister suggested that the cabinet would not recognize the ruling.
"We have international obligations," said Yugoslav Interior Minister Zoran Zivkovic. "The decree is in force and it is now a matter for the Serbian government to decide."
Zivkovic, a close ally of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, said the governing coalition could find ways to cooperate with the ICTY despite the court ruling.
"The Constitutional Court has in the past issued rulings that had little to do with the law or the constitution," said Zivkovic.
Milosevic has been held in a Belgrade jail since April 1st, on domestic accusations of corruption and abuse of power.
Judge Arandjel Markicevic, one of the members of the panel and a former defense minister under Milosevic, said in a written report: "Concerning the request, I believe that the conditions warrant that we order a stop to the implementation of all procedures linked to the decree, which we are currently examining."
The Yugoslav justice ministry earlier this week began legal proceedings that would compel Milosevic to stand trial at the ICTY.
On the strength of the official commitment to transfer Milosevic, Washington said it would attend the donors' conference but would not grant aid until Belgrade delivers those indicted by the U.N. tribunal to The Hague.
The United States and other western nations had put heavy pressure on Belgrade to cooperate with the tribunal and had threatened to withhold assistance if it did not.
Milosevic, who fell from power in October amid street protests in Belgrade, is wanted by the tribunal for war crimes in Kosovo prior to June 1999, when the predominantly Muslim Albanian province was put under U.N. administration following a 78-day NATO air war against his regime.
At Friday's conference, the 35 or so donor nations will be called upon to pledge vitally needed $1.25 million for the coming year, enabling reforms to take hold, a World Bank official said.
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