The Times
July 2, 2001
TOP US LAWYER JOINS MILOSEVIC DEFENCE
>From Janine Di Giovanni in Belgrade
A TOP US lawyer is to join the defence team of the extradited former
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague.
Ramsey Clark, a former US Attorney-General who worked in Jimmy Carter's
Administration, is known for his human rights involvement. He visited
Belgrade in 1999 during the Nato bombardment and was said to be moved by
the
city's plight. Other American and Canadian lawyers will also be joining
the
Milosevic team.
Mr Milosevic's wife, Mirjana Markovic, has begun preparations to join
her
husband in The Hague and oversee his legal defence. She is on a European
Union list that bans her from travelling outside Yugoslavia, but has
applied
for a Dutch visa and is now looking for an apartment in The Hague.
Mr Milosevic will be joined today by the Belgrade lawyer Zdenko
Tomanovic
before his initial appearance at the tribunal at 10am tomorrow. The
former
President will be asked about his crackdown in Kosovo in 1999.
According to Mr Tomanovic, they will discuss defence strategy. Mr
Milosevic,
who has rejected the legitimacy of the UN court, is expected to plead
not
guilty.
"The Hague tribunal is a political circus set up to destroy the Serb
nation," he said last week. Mr Tomanovic said that Mr Milosevic was "a
proud and intelligent man. He was doing his job, protecting our country
against Nato. He sees The Hague as a political court so we will fight a
political battle."
In Belgrade Mrs Markovic, who has been protesting her husband's
innocence,
is attempting to hold together what remains of her family. Her son
Marko,
who faces allegations of corruption and smuggling, is in Russia where he
is
believed to be under the protection of gangsters and harbouring the
family's
funds. Mrs Markovic's daughter Marija and daughter-in-law Milica have
stuck
close to her.
Mr Tomanovic said that although Mrs Markovic and other members of the
family
were prevented from leaving the country by the list barring them from EU
visas, he believed that she would be allowed to visit her husband. The
list
of banned names was drastically reduced after the Belgrade revolution
last
October, but includes about 200 cronies of Mr Milosevic and suspected
war
criminals.
Mr Tomanovic said: "It's just a question of time when they will issue (a
visa) to Mrs Markovic. Her husband was arrested; she has the right to go
to
The Hague to be with him."
A member of Mrs Markovic's JUL (Yugoslav Left) party said that she was
distressed but trying to remain strong for her husband, who had sent
messages from his cell that he needed books, money and clothes. "She
will
continue her political fight and the fight for her husband's innocence,"
the
party member said.
Mr Milosevic's extradition has deepened the conflict between President
Kostunica of Yugoslavia and Zoran Djindjic, the Serbian Prime Minister.
On
Saturday Mr Kostunica formally announced that he did not know about
plans
for the extradition, although it is widely believed that he handed the
dirty
work over to the already unpopular Mr Djindjic.
Mr Kostunica has been an outspoken critic of The Hague, claiming that it
is
biased against Serbs. He has realised, however, that co-operation with
the
tribunal is essential to opening financial and diplomatic doors to the
West.
The extradition came after Mr Djindjic, backed by all 17 leaders from
Serbia
's ruling DOS coalition except Mr Kostunica, took advantage of a
loophole in
the country's constitution that, ironically, was introduced by Mr
Milosevic
himself in 1990.
Serbian News Network - SNN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.antic.org/
