|
Political Crisis Erupts As Milosevic In U.N. Detention
THE HAGUE, June 29 (News Agencies) - Slobodan Milosevic spent his first day behind bars here Friday as a political crisis erupted in Yugoslavia over his transfer to The Hague to face war crimes charges.
Milosevic, dubbed the "Butcher of the Balkans", was handed over late Thursday on the decision of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, prompting the resignation of federal Yugoslav Prime Minister Zoran Zizic, furious over his "cooperation" with the U.N. war crimes tribunal.
The Serb nationalist, who will face charges over his role in atrocities committed across the Balkans in Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II, is the first head of state to be tried by an international tribunal.
The widely hailed decision to hand him over to The Hague prompted pledges totaling $1.28 billion in aid this year for Yugoslavia's shattered economy from donor countries and international organizations meeting in Brussels on Friday.
Milosevic's extradition marks a "turning point" in the international fight against impunity, U.N. prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said Friday.
"The transfer of Slobodan Milosevic is a turning point that all authorities throughout the former Yugoslavia must now recognize," she told a press conference here.
The former president, 59, will appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for the first time on Tuesday morning at 0800 GMT, to hear the charges against him.
Del Ponte, who asserted that she was "trying to have no emotion" over Milosevic's extradition - he will be the highest-ranking figure to face the tribunal - said: "Leaders in even the highest positions of power must be made to answer the allegations against them."
Another 25 people have been indicted by the ICTY but are still at large, including Milosevic's former protégé Radovan Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb president, and former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic.
The court has also indicted Serbia's current president, Milan Milutinovic, for war crimes allegedly committing in Kosovo.
"The fact that they have not been arrested ... is scandalous," Del Ponte said.
Long considered the Balkans' fiercest warmonger during his decade-long rule, Milosevic faces possible life imprisonment if convicted for his role in the mass killings, deportations and persecution that took place during the 1998-1999 Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
Milosevic, who was ousted in a popular uprising in October, is also expected to face additional charges for war crimes committed in Croatia and Bosnia during the conflicts there pitting Serbs against Croats and Muslims.
Del Ponte acknowledged the "courageous decision" by Djindjic to hand over Milosevic just hours after federal Yugoslavia's constitutional court froze the procedure saying it needed time to decide whether the handover was legal.
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica said he had not been informed of the move by Serbia, which along with Montenegro has a large amount of autonomy within the Yugoslav federation.
In Moscow, Milosevic's brother Borislav called the handover "a kidnapping" while Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was among the few dissenting voices on the world stage to disapprove of the transfer.
Ivanov warned that the move would further destabilize Yugoslavia and play into the hands of separatists who could seize upon the transfer to advance their separatist agenda.
Meanwhile in Brussels, reformist authorities in Belgrade received an immediate windfall.
Donor countries and international organizations pledged a total of some $1.28 billion in grants and concessionary loans to aid Yugoslavia in 2001, a spokesman for the European Commission said.
By midday, donors had pledged aid totaling some $1.37 billion over the next three years, and were well on their way to reaching the goal of $3.9 billion for what Belgrade would need for the three-year period.
After being charged on Tuesday, Milosevic will have 30 days to enter a plea, court spokesman Jim Landale said.
|
