STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday July 4, 4:48 AM Milosevic to stay on attack, lawyer says THE HAGUE, July 3 (AFP) - Slobodan Milosevic will stay on the offensive in his trial at the UN war crimes tribunal, lawyer Zdenko Tomanovich predicted Tuesday. "He's not going to defend himself, he's going to attack," Tomanovich told reporters, adding that it was therefore "not important" whether Milosevic was represented before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Milosevic, who faces life imprisonment if convicted, "will not have a lawyer in further proceedings," Tomanovich said through an interpreter. Tomanovich, who stressed that he was neither the defendant's spokesman nor his lawyer, said that at Tuesday's initial appearance, the defiant ex-president "was not defending himself, he was attacking the court." The fallen strongman [TM courtesy of NWO, Inc.], appearing before the ICTY to answer charges over his role in the 1998-99 Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, waived his right to counsel, rejected the charges against him and branded the tribunal "illegal". Presiding Judge Richard May prevented the defendant -- the first former head of state to face the tribunal -- from elaborating on his assertions by cutting off the sound on two occasions, a prerogative allowed under tribunal rules. Tomanovich said Milosevic was aware that his microphone could be disabled during the hearing, and had expected it. The Belgrade lawyer also said that Milosevic refused, after the 10-minute hearing, to speak to chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte in a meeting that normally follows an initial court appearance. "He didn't want to meet a person with whom he didn't want to talk and whom he didn't want to see," Tomanovich said. Del Ponte's spokeswoman Florence Hartman earlier told AFP that the two had spoken during their brief meeting. [You mean Del Ponte lied?] The high-profile defendant's refusal to appoint a lawyer prompted fears that the tribunal would be unable to ensure a fair trial, with deputy chief prosecutor Graham Blewitt saying the former president had the right to "the best legal defence in the world". "We would like to see him totally defended so that at the end of the process, whatever the verdict is, the international community can have confidence in the process," Blewitt said. Tribunal spokesman Christian Cartier said the court might deem it necessary to appoint a lawyer to defend Milosevic, should his defense seem "diminished" over the course of a trial that is expected to last some two years. [You're going to have a lawyer whether you want one or not. What do you think this is, an inquisition?] __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
