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The Hand That Feeds Milosevic's Defense November 10, 2002 By MARLISE SIMONS THE HAGUE, Nov. 3 - Every morning and evening, Zdenko Tomanovic wades through an emporium of documents that overflows his dining table, packs the wall-to-wall shelving, and piles up on his living room floor. When he is not tracking pages in his apartment here, he is dashing off to court or to a high security prison across town. Mr. Tomanovic is a lawyer for Slobodan Milosevic, or rather his virtual lawyer. His client, the former president of Yugoslavia, has not wanted to appoint a counsel in his war crimes trial because he is conducting his own defense. In court parlance, Mr. Tomanovic is called "a legal associate." As he sees it, it is an uneven fight. Probing through a mound of videotapes sent by the court, as many as 600 of them, he said, "This is amazing. Mr. Milosevic has a video player, but how could he or I find time to see all this?" He continued the tour, past binders and unsorted boxes. "This is what 150,000 documents look like," Mr. Tomanovic said. "I have calculated that if Mr. Milosevic or I read every page just once, at two minutes per page, it will take more than a year." Besides, he added, their classification is immensely complicated. "We have not managed to figure out the system." The system is the evidence prepared by prosecutors of the war crimes tribunal, the thousands of statements, maps, photographs and other exhibits, copies of which must be provided to the accused. Mr. Milosevic' copies were stored at first in a specially reserved jail cell, but overwhelmed by the avalanche of material, he sent it to Mr. Tomanovic's home. The volume of papers is one measure of the largest war crimes trial in modern times, covering a decade of conflicts in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. Prosecutors say the wars for which they hold Mr. Milosevic accountable were replete with crimes against humanity and even genocide, because the campaigns were directed largely against civilians. Prosecutors opened their case in February and are to conclude in May. Then Mr. Milosevic may begin his defense, and if his current tactics are a guide, he may ask for equal time, if not more. But Mr. Milosevic's health overshadows the trial. Hearings have been suspended four times already because of his heart and blood pressure problems, and the prosecution has repeatedly asked to impose a defense lawyer to allow the trial to move ahead when Mr. Milosevic is sick. He continues to refuse, insisting on using his court time to give his personal views of history and politics. "The only reason I agreed to participate in this case of yours is because I want to be able to address the public," he told the judges just before collapsing on Nov. 1, of exhaustion, doctors said. With Mr. Milosevic piloting the defense, Mr. Tomanovic remains backstage. A polite and thoughtful Serb, Mr. Tomanovic, 45, has served as chief judge of a trial court in Belgrade. He now spends hours in the public gallery, following the moves and moods of a man who is arguably one of the world's most difficult clients. During breaks he slips away to see Mr. Milosevic in a small windowless waiting room. "I give him documents, legal advice and lists of questions for cross-examination," he said. After sessions, Mr. Tomanovic goes across town to the United Nations cellblock in a Dutch jail, where he and Mr. Milosevic hold longer meetings. He is one of two lawyers who may meet with him alone; the other is Dragoslav Ognjanovic, a Belgrade lawyer. Does Mr. Milosevic take his advice? "Sometimes," Mr. Tomanovic said, with a faint smile. He has talked to friends about the obstinacy of his client. He said they had met only briefly before, when Mr. Milosevic was first imprisoned in Belgrade last year. Once Mr. Milosevic arrived in The Hague, Mr. Tomanovic said, "he called me and asked me to come here." Why did he accept he job? "I am an attorney, and this is a big challenge," he replied. For now, Mr. Tomanovic wants to talk about his frustrations with the prosecution. It calls many witnesses, but there is little time to prepare, he said. Complicating this is the prosecution's habit of changing the order of witnesses at short notice, he said. Prosecutors have said they are sometimes forced to do this because of changes in the trial schedule, Mr. Milosevic's illness or by witnesses' travel complications. Based on the prosecution's list, Mr. Tomanovic said, he mobilizes his 10-person law office in Belgrade, which studies the statements and investigates witnesses. "Then the order suddenly changes, and we have even less time to prepare," he complained. "It often happens on a Friday, which is worse, because I am not allowed to visit Mr. Milosevic on the weekend." More than 130 witnesses have testified for the prosecution. But Mr. Milosevic does not seem unprepared when cross-examining; indeed, he has regularly referred to close personal details of witnesses. In Belgrade newspapers, this has been cited as evidence that Mr. Milosevic's supporters have access to police files. Mr. Tomanovic denied such access and said his team does the best possible research. But the sheer volume of evidence dismays him. In his 22 years as a lawyer, he said, "I have never seen a case of more than 1,000 pages." Lawyers at the tribunal cite the magnitude of the charges, over so many years and three wars. Also, they say, Mr. Tomanovic and his colleagues come from a Communist-era judicial system where trials were much simplified. Mr. Tomanovic, however, points to what he calls a fundamental contradiction at The Hague. "The tribunal grants the accused the right to conduct his own defense," he said, "but it does not enable him to implement this right because the case is unmanageable for the accused." Even with lawyers' help, someone defending himself must still go through much material to be able to cross-examine. In many countries, including Yugoslavia, he said, people are not allowed to conduct their own defenses in war crimes cases. A former tribunal judge agreed that tribunal cases have been too long and too voluminous. "The management is a big burden, you need teams of paralegals," the judge said. But then, the former judge added, "as a prosecutor, you cannot tailor your presentation because the accused wants to defend himself." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/10/international/europe/10MILO.html?ex=1037901541&ei=1&en=1abf2ddc461b6909 HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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