15:34 2001-06-24 TIMOTHY BANCROFT-HINCHEY: MILOSEVIC EXTRADITION MORE COMPLICATED THAN MANY IMAGINE The stories flying around the international press circuits today that ex-President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia is to be extradited to The Hague are as yet only speculation because the legal process is far more complex that it would appear at first sight. Yesterday the Yugoslav Federation government approved a document, which sets up official relations between Belgrade and The International Penal Court at The Hague court with a view to the extradition of Slobodan Milosevic to be tried for war crimes. This document will be published tomorrow in the Yugoslav Federation Government Gazette. “The decree law on cooperation with the International Penal Court, including subjects related with the extradition of Yugoslav citizens, was adopted by eight votes in favour and one against, the Federal Interior Minister, Zoran Zivkovic, stated yesterday. The document “includes people, regardless of their nationality, who commit serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of ex-Yugoslavia since 1991 and it covers the international obligations of the Republic of Yugoslavia regarding matters concerned with the IPC”. The Federal Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, stated that the process would be followed “without problems” and would take 15 to 20 days. Certainly any much-needed cash from the International Donor Conference, to be held next week, will depend on the extradition of Slobodan Milosevic. Some countries could donate unconditionally but the largest expected donor, the USA, has already linked offers of economic aid to internal political changes and the State Department has made its position clear, namely that there will be no cash without extradition. However, the case is not nearly so simple as many imagine. Under international and Yugoslav law, the situation is as follows: the government in Belgrade has created the legal possibility for extradition. Now the Chief Prosecutor of the IPC at The Hague, Carla del Ponte, must request a Belgrade Court to extradite Mr. Milosevic. Meanwhile, the lawyers of the ex-President have the right to appeal and the case will then go to the Supreme Court of Serbia, to be judged by five judges, appointed by Mr. Milosevic himself. Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY, Pravda.Ru, LISBON, PORTUGAL Miroslav Antic, http://www.antic.org/ STOP NOVOM SVETSKOM PORETKU ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bUrBE8.bVKZIq Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
