MILOSEVIC'S LAWYER APPEALS DETENTION DECISION BELGRADE, April 2 (Tanjug) - The lawyer of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, Toma Fila, said on Monday that he appealed the decision of Belgrade district court on the pre-trial detention of Milosevic. Fila told Tanjug that the appeal in question was written by Milosevic himself, and that he (Fila) previosuly submitted his own appeal. Fila told Tanjug that the results of the appeal were expected within 48 hours. "We will have an answer most probably Tuesday morning. I think it will be a negative one." "We are not against the investigation, because we consider that every citizen against whom proceedings are underway must respond to the summons of a judge," Fila said. It is a lie, and the former president wrote that in his appeal, that he refuses to be held accountable in his country, Fila aid, stressing that Milosevic does not want to go to The Hague. Fila said that Milosevic is feeling very well, "as well as a person can feel when in prison." ************************************************ MILOSEVIC SAYS PROCESS AGAINST HIM POLITICAL STAGED BELGRADE, April 3 (Tanjug) - Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic said in a complaint filed with the Belgrade District Court on Monday against the court decision on his detention that the process against him was politically staged. "I believe the court proceedings against me are politically staged, at the orders of the new authorities, with the purpose of tarnishing and discrediting my long-term work, and, in particular, because I opposed world power-wielders in the interests of the state and the people," Milosevic said. Milosevic rejected the reasons for his detention, explaining that "over the past six months I was accused and condemned for every possible criminal act in the entire press of the current regime, and yet I did not flee." "I am filing this complaint strictly in the interest of truth. I do not mind any investigation into anything I have done in my life, but I mind being treated like a criminal for what I did for my state to the best of my ability," Milosevic said in the complaint, adding that he was ready at any time to appear before the judicial organs of his country. ************************************************* US PRESSURES ON YUGOSLAVIA COULD CAUSE SERIOUS RIFT MOSCOW, April 2 (Tanjug) - Russian Duma international relations committee chairman Dmitry Rogozin warned on Monday that US pressures on the Yugoslav leadership to extradite Slobodan Milosevic to The Hague show that the United States is interfering in the internal affairs of the country and threatens to provoke a serious rift in Yugoslavia. Such a rift int he country could provoke wide-ranging conflicts in the center of Europe, Rogozin said. According to him, the armtwisting and issuing of ultimatums to Yugoslav leaders, including deadlines for the extradition of the former Yugoslav president and its linking to economic aid, constitute planned activities, which are strongly destabilizing the democratic forces of the country. The provoking of such the crisis could be extremely dangerous for the whole of Europe, Rogozin said. ******************************************** STATEMENT OF GENNADY ZYUGANOV Chairman of the People's Patriotic Union of Russia Moscow, April 2, 2001 Slobodan Milosevic, Chairman of the Serbian Socialist Party and former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was arrested in Belgrade. All circumstances directly indicate that this action was ordered by the United States. The intensity of pressure on the Yugoslav government was unprecedented, and the decision to arrest Mr. Milosevic was made under the threat of vicious economic and political blackmail. This represents the most deplorable interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state and a fresh violation of international legal norms, already shaken by the rogue bombings of Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and especially the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999. By arresting a former head of a foreign country, the United States is introducing a dangerous element into international relations. The consequences of this precedent could be far-reaching for any head of state trying to run an independent foreign and domestic policy, including the leaders of Russia and Belarus. With that in mind, the deafening silence of the Russian Federation s Foreign Ministry is simply shocking. Those forces in Yugoslavia that favor the preservation of the historical friendship between the Yugoslav people and Russia are being openly harassed. The continuance of the current faceless policy of the Russian Foreign Ministry is bound to lead to Russia s removal from the Balkans altogether. The decision of the Yugoslav regime to arrest its former head of state for the sake of financial "aid" is contemptible - especially since it is obvious that the demand for Slobodan Milosevic's arrest came from the leaders of NATO, convicted by a Yugoslav court for crimes against the people of Yugoslavia and responsible for war damages in excess of tens of billions of dollars. The People's Patriotic Union of Russia condemns the persecution of Slobodan Milosevic, as it will further increase tensions in Yugoslavia, contrary to our desires for peace and stability in that country. Judging that the persecution of the Serbian Socialist Party leader represents an attempt to impose the American "New World Order," the People's Patriotic Union of Russia calls for an international campaign to cease political persecution of Slobodan Milosevic and support the patriotic forces in Yugoslavia, which continue to resist the expansion of NATO. ********************************************* YUGOSLAV LEADER DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM ARREST OF PREDECESSOR BELGRADE, April 3 (AFP) - Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica distanced himself Tuesday from his predecessor Slobodan Milosevic's arrest but stressed he has no say in whether the man wanted by a UN court for war crimes will be transferred to The Hague. Speaking to reporters for the first time since a weekend siege ended in Milosevic's arrest on corruption charges, Kostunica said the police action had been "clumsy", uncoordinated with army guards at the residence, and was not reported to him until it had already bogged down in an armed stand-off. He insisted the arrest had nothing to do with US pressure to move against the ex-leader by midnight Saturday or lose millions of dollars in badly-needed aid, which Washington on Monday freed up as promised. Kostunica said US President George W. Bush would have signed the release anyway based on democratic changes his reformers had carried out since toppling Milosevic in October. But the president's opposition to extraditing Milosevic to a UN war crimes court -- which he accused of only prosecuting Serb suspects -- earned him a rebuke from one of Europe's top rights bodies. The Council of Europe said he risked ruining his reputation as a reformer by refusing to hand over Milosevic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. Milosevic was locked up in a Belgrade prison after his arrest early Sunday, as investigators probe him on charges of stealing public funds to prop up his authoritarian regime, which was isolated by the international community and then bombed by NATO over its Kosovo policies in 1999. Serbian Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic said on a visit to Vienna that Milosevic could be tried for "serious crimes" which carry the death penalty. "But we are talking at the moment about an enquiry, we still need proof," he said. A judicial board rejected Milosevic's appeal to be released from 30 days investigative custody. He was detained after a gun battle with police outside his residence which left four officers injured, one of them seriously. The appeal, drafted and signed by Milosevic himself, claimed that he had used the missing state money to finance Serb armies fighting in Bosnia and Croatia as the republics broke away from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. The admission increased pressure on Belgrade to cooperate with the ICTY, but also threatened to rekindle nationalist sentiment among supporters who had turned away from him among mounting accusations of corruption. As Milosevic's wife Mira Markovic visited her husband in jail, and was booed by teenagers waiting outside, one of his key aides was being quizzed by investigators on the same charges as his former boss. Former Yugoslav customs chief Mihalj Kertes was questioned for six hours before leaving a district courthouse in Belgarde without speaking to reporters. Kertes was briefly detained earlier this year but was released after citing his immunity as a member of parliament. Two other top Milosevic aides also showed up in the courthouse but it was not known if they faced questioning. And the shockwaves of Milosevic's dramatic arrest were felt in the Socialist Party (SPS) he founded a decade ago and which he still heads. Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, the last Milosevic ally to hold on to a top government post after six months of reforms, resigned from the high-level SPS posts he held, citing "increased pressure" from the party. The SPS has accused Milutinovic -- who like Milosevic has been indicted by the ICTY for war crimes in Kosovo -- of being too close to the new authorities. He also has, along with the Kostunica, the power to pardon his former boss. Kostunica insisted Tuesday that Milosevic stand trial in Serbia, accusing the ICTY of practising "selective justice" in not prosecuting high-level Bosnian, Croatian or even NATO leaders, all of whom he said bore some responsibility for crimes committed in the Balkans in the past decade. He added that he had ordered a South African-style truth and reconciliation committee to look into Yugoslavia's recent history. http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010403/1/ly2n.html ******************************************* MILOSEVIC ARREST HEIGHTENS FEUD Stratfor.com, 2345 GMT, 010330 - The apparent arrest of Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic marks the beginning of a stand-off among Yugoslav officials. For the past few weeks, Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic has encouraged compliance to European Union and U.S. demands to indict Milosevic for war crimes, and see his trial in The Hague. Batic's concern anticipated a harsh U.S. response and suspension of aid. Batic has the full support of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. But Yugoslav President Kostunica has rejected the gestures of cooperation by Djindjic and Batic, aggressively contesting the pretension. But the row between the officials is not yet over since the arrest of Milosevic is short of full compliance with EU and U.S. demands. The U.S. Congress determined March 31, 2001 as the deadline for Yugoslavia to demonstrate good faith to the international community. If deemed an ally, the United States would clear $100 million dollars in aid to the new government, formed last October when a popular uprising forced strongman Slobodan Milosevic from office. If deemed an adversary, Washington would suspend funding. The ultimate decision was left to Secretary of State Colin Powell, who decided on March 30 to delay a verdict through the weekend. Reason for the delay is unclear, though Powell is likely gauging the political consequences of Milosevic's arrest. Reports of Milosevic's arrest conflicted throughout the day March 30, but several news sources, including Reuters, Tass and AFP, reported Milosevic was taken from his home outside Belgrade and ushered to the Palace of Justice in Belgrade by a handful of Serbia's Interior Ministry Police. It was later reported by international news organizations and news outlets in Belgrade that Milosevic had returned home and appeared before reporters and supporters outside his home. Details of the proceedings inside the courthouse have not been disclosed. Milosevic is expected to stand trial in Serbia with no immediate risk of extradition to The Hague. But the significance of the day's events are interwoven with the move by the two Serbian ministers against President Kostunica. Kostunica has a higher diplomatic profile than the Serb prime minister and justice minister and even garnered support from France for the United States to delay its decision. Kostunica will now have to rally against ministers Batic and Djindjic and their attempt to arrest Milosevic. Such a move may turn Kostunica to rouse fashionable, populist sentiments in defense of Yugoslavia's sovereignty. Batic and Djindjic are attempting to isolate Kostunica and potentially cow him politically before the Serb public. Kostunica is appealing to Milo supporters and conservatives to expand his popularity, according to IWPR analyst Zeljko Cvijanovic. Djindjic's move against Milosevic is a swift challenge, and Kostunica is likely to invoke nationalist sentiments as a shield against his more moderate partners. This may result in less cooperation from Yugoslavia, and may even flaunt the will of EU and U.S. representatives. *********************************************** _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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