Lawyers 'unlikely' to meet Milosevic soon

Milosevic is a political prisoner, say his supporters

Two Canadian lawyers travelling to the International War Crimes Tribunal
at The Hague at the request of the former Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic are unlikely to meet him this weekend. 

Tribunal spokesman Jim Landale said the lawyers had yet to receive
authorisation from the tribunal and added that the court had yet to
determine the purpose of the visit. 

We have been asked by Milosevic to go and see him to discuss the
situation
 
Christopher Black, lawyer  
The lawyers, Christopher Black and Andre Tremblay, are part of an
international support committee that considers Mr Milosevic a political
prisoner. 

Formed in Berlin in March, the International Committee to Defend
Slobodan Milosevic is made up of 200 lawyers, writers and intellectuals.


Mr Black said he was going there on behalf of the group to see the
conditions of Mr Milosevic's detention and discuss any legal matters he
wished to raise. 

At his first appearance at the tribunal earlier this week, the former
Yugoslav leader declined to ask for defence lawyers and refused to enter
a plea on war crimes charges. 

No representation 

Mr Black refused to speculate about whether they would eventually
represent Mr Milosevic. 


Both men are heavily involved representing defendants before the Rwandan
war crimes tribunal. 

Two of the lawyers who had been representing Mr Milosevic while he was
in Belgrade failed to persuade him that he should be represented in
court. 

The court has said it may have to appoint a lawyer for Mr Milosevic. 

'Command responsibility' 

The former champion of Serb nationalism is currently charged with war
crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1998-99 crackdown
against the ethnic Albanian population in the Serbian province of
Kosovo. 

Legal analysts have said the case may hinge on whether or not the
prosecution can prove Mr Milosevic's "command responsibility" for the
war crimes in Kosovo. 

On Thursday, the European Commission said it was likely to lift an
EU-wide travel ban on Mr Milosevic wife, Mira Markovic, to allow her to
visit her husband in prison. 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1425000/1425492.stm

Miroslav Antic,
http://www.antic.org/ 

                                   Serbian News Network - SNN

                                        [EMAIL PROTECTED]

                                    http://www.antic.org/

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