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Wednesday April 10, 11:03 PM Yugoslav parliament moves to adopt landmark war crimes bill Yugoslavia moved closer to extraditing war crimes suspects to the UN tribunal in The Hague and averting US sanctions when its upper house passed legislation on the controversial subject. If passed by both houses, the bill would not only unblock millions of dollars of aid but could lead to the arrest of up to 15 men indicted by the the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The Upper Chamber of Republics passed by a vote of 25 to seven a bill allowing Yugoslav nationals indicted by the ICTY to be handed over for trial in The Hague. Parliamentary speaker Dragoljub Micunovic told reporters he expected the lower house to vote on the bill late Wednesday. The government approved the bill Tuesday after the US warned it would cut off aid indefinitely to Belgrade and block international loans. The debate in the parliament was marked by the opposition's disapproval of the bill. Serb nationalist Vojislav Seselj of the opposition Serbian Radical Party denounced it as "a violation of the constitution and a threat to the very foundations of the state." Under the legislation, Yugoslav nationals currently under indictment by will be transferred to the Hague-based court. But all future indictments will be dealt with by Yugoslav courts. The bill contains an extradition procedure that could take up to 10 days. "The end of this month is first deadline when some of those indicted could be handed over (to The Hague) in accordance with this law," Yugoslav Interior Minister Zoran Zivkovic told reporters. Once approved, the legislation could lead to the trial of senior Serbian officials such as President Milan Milutinovic and former Yugoslav deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic, wanted on charges of war crimes during the 1998-1999 war in the southern Serbian province of Kosovo. Former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic, indicted by the UN tribunal for genocide and war crimes in Bosnia, is also believed to be in hiding near Belgrade. Yugoslavia's dominant republic Serbia was torn by political infighting over the handover last June of former president Slobodan Milosevic for trial on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The draft legislation went into separate debate in both houses midday Wednesday. In an official communique, the Yugoslav government said "with the adoption and implementation of this law, Yugoslavia will have fulfilled its obligations incumbent upon it as a member of the United Nations." President Vojislav Kostunica predicted that the bill would become law within a few days, but some doubts lingered Wednesday about a speedy passage. In The Hague, UN tribunal spokesman Jim Landale said Wednesday Yugoslavia's "cooperation has to be complete and unconditional." Florence Hartmann, spokesman for the court's prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, warned: "We hope that no new obstacle will be put on this cooperation," and repeated the tribunal's stance that "there is no need of any law to comply with international obligations." But Kostunica had advocated such a bill after Serbia was torn by infighting over Milosevic's handover. ICTY officials say that about 15 people wanted by The Hague court live in hiding in Serbia, including top allies of Milosevic. The head of the Yugoslav armed forces Dragoljub Ojdanic and former Serbian interior minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic are also wanted for war crimes during the Kosovo war. --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
