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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5768-2002Oct10.html U.N. Court Fires Milosevic Lawyer By Daniela Valenta Associated Press Writer Thursday, October 10, 2002; 10:34 AM THE HAGUE, Netherlands �� The U.N. war crimes tribunal dismissed a Dutch lawyer assigned to protect the interests of Slobodan Milosevic in his war crimes trial, saying Thursday that the attorney's impartiality was in doubt. Michail Wladimiroff was one of three defense attorneys appointed as "friends of the court" to help ensure that the former Yugoslav president gets a fair trial. Milosevic is defending himself against 66 counts of war crimes allegedly committed in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia during the 1990s. Last week, Wladimiroff apologized to the court for remarks in Dutch and Bulgarian publications quoting him as saying he believed Milosevic could be found guilty. Milosevic demanded that the attorney be disqualified from the trial, saying it would be "inexcusable" for Wladimiroff to continue. Speaking between the appearance of two witnesses Thursday, presiding judge Richard May said Wladimiroff had lost the trust of the court and that he had asked for the lawyer's removal. May said the judges cannot be confident that Wladimiroff "will discharge his duties with the required impartiality." Wladimiroff was not present when May read the ruling. A tribunal spokesman said it is up to the registrar, the tribunal's chief administrative officer, to decide whether Wladimiroff will be replaced. The friends of the court are allowed to raise motions beneficial to Milosevic and to question witnesses. But they are not part of the defense team and do not directly assist Milosevic in his defense strategy. Wladimiroff, a veteran defense attorney at the U.N. tribunal, was on the defense team of the court's first defendant, Dusko Tadic. The tribunal was created by the Security Council in 1993 to prosecute war crimes committed in the Balkans during the violent break up of Yugoslavia beginning two years earlier. In the hearing last week, Wladimiroff said some of his remarks appearing in the press were "edited interpretations" and were "not what I said." He expressed regret for speaking to the reporters, but argued that his comments did not threaten the fairness of the trial and that he should be allowed to continue. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu 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 ==^================================================================
