From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 02:30:07 EST To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Milosevic Freedom Bid [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- Tuesday, 20 November, 2001, 00:00 GMT Milosevic freedom bid http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1665000/1665433.stm Milosevic refuses to recognise the tribunal's legitimacy Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic is to challenge his detention at the International War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague through the European Court of Human Rights. Mr Milosevic is due to go on trial next year on charges of persecution in Kosovo in 1999 and war crimes in Croatia during the 1991-1995 war. But Mr Milosevic says he is being held illegally by the tribunal at the Hague, which he regards as an illegal institution. He is also taking action against the Dutch state, accusing the government of allowing his human rights to be abused by the tribunal by not taking steps to arrange his release. The Dutch Government regards the arrest and detention of Mr Milosevic as a case for an international court to decide. A judge hearing the petition ruled that the UN tribunal maintains its own jurisdiction at The Hague, exclusive of the Dutch state. Legal advisers This week, the tribunal said Mr Milosevic would be allowed unmonitored access to two legal advisers, as he has no defence counsel on the case. The former Yugoslav president has always refused a defence lawyer because he does not recognise the court. Tribunal says Ramsey Clark can visit Milosevic The Hague said Ramsey Clark, a civil rights activist who was attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson, and British attorney John Livingston, could visit Mr Milosevic to discuss his case with him. But Mr Milosevic's lawyer, Zdenko Tomanovic, is reported to have said his client "neither asked for, nor appointed, anyone as his legal adviser". Mr Tomanovic said Mr Milosevic would accept a visit from Mr Clark but not from Mr Livingston. Last week, prosecutors submitted a new indictment against Mr Milosevic for genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war but it has yet to be confirmed by a judge. His trial for the events in Kosovo alone will begin on 12 February. It will be the biggest trial in the tribunal's history, involving months of testimony from more than 220 witnesses, and could take years to produce a verdict. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
