Lawyer says tribunal's willingness to summon leaders is a test of its impartiality
Ian Black in Brussels Wednesday February 6, 2002 The Guardian
Slobodan Milosevic may try to call Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and other Nato leaders to testify before the Hague war crimes tribunal, lawyers for the former Yugoslav president indicated yesterday.
Signalling a move towards active defence in the biggest such case since Hitler's henchmen were tried at Nuremberg, attorneys in Belgrade and Paris said Mr Milosevic would be pointing the finger at western governments when proceedings began next week.
"If this tribunal is independent, even if Mr Milosevic does not request it, it should summon Clinton, Blair, [Germany's chancellor] Schroeder and [France's president] Chirac," declared the contro versial French lawyer Jacques Verges.
Zdenko Tomanovic, one of the ex-president's two Yugoslav lawyers, who has met him frequently in detention, said: "Anybody who knows the truth can be asked to testify, and these include any number of relevant people who are or were in important positions in Yugoslavia as well as in foreign countries."
The declaration comes one month after Mr Milosevic's lawyers first suggested he may resort to calling western leaders to testify.
Since being handed over to face trial last summer, Mr Milosevic has refused to appoint counsel or recognise the UN court, which he has portrayed as an illegal instrument of his Nato enemies.
But experts said yesterday's declarations were another sign that he is now being drawn into engaging with it. Proceedings begin next Tuesday.
It was confirmed last night that Mr Verges, notorious for his defence of the international terrorist Carlos "the Jackal" Ramirez and Klaus Barbie, the Gestapo chief in wartime Lyon, has met Mr Milosevic once. But he holds no formal position and cannot, under current arrangements, appear before the court.
Lawyers and tribunal officials say the defendant may call witnesses, but they must be shown to be relevant. US and British officials say there is no chance that Mr Clinton or Mr Blair could appear.
"The defence would have to make a compelling case that Clinton or Blair could provide decisive evidence of Milosevic's guilt or innocence," said Human Rights Watch. "Given their high profile, that's an issue the court would have to look at in the light of its duty to prevent proceedings becoming a circus."
Last week, an appeals chamber ruled that Mr Milosevic would face only one trial, on 66 charges stemming from conflicts in Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia. It is expected to last two years.
The original indictment was based on his role in the 1998-99 Kosovo war, in which hundreds of Albanians were killed and thousands fled or were expelled. Charges from Bosnia - on which Mr Milosevic faces a genocide charge - and Croatia were added later.
Mr Verges told Reuters that the tribunal should question western leaders over their role in the Balkan wars. "It should ask why attacks were launched because of Kosovo, even though Yugoslavia made concessions at Rambouillet," the French advocate said of the ultimately abortive peace talks between Serbs and Kosovo Albanians near Paris in 1999.
The Serbs said they would accept broad autonomy for Kosovo. But Mr Milosevic rejected demands for Nato peacekeepers, and Yugoslavia did not sign the peace accord - triggering Nato attacks.
"He [Milosevic] is the victim of Nato aggression," said Mr Verges.