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Milosevic taken to answer for crimes

An elderly Milosevic supporter shouts angrily and gestures with a cross and a newspaper during a protest rally at Republic Square, downtown Belgrade, where 1,000 Milosevic supporters aggressively protested against his extradition Thursday. PHOTO: AFP

The UN War Crimes Tribunal yesterday ordered Slobodan Milosevic to make his first court appearance next Tuesday to hear charges for his part in a decade of Balkan wars that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

The former Yugoslav president, behind bars at The Hague, underwent an initial medical examination after being delivered by helicopter to the walled compound of Scheveningen prison in the early hours of the morning, then spent his first night in international custody.

He was shown by Dutch television being led across the prison yard by two guards in the only, fleeting footage of his familiar white hair and portly figure to be captured during the drama.

There were no reports of medical problems.

"On Tuesday he will make an initial appearance," tribunal spokes-man Jim Landale said. He would be brought before a judge at 10am, the charges would be read to him and he would be asked to enter a plea -- "either guilty or not guilty."

Milosevic, 59, is the first former head of state to be tried for alleged war crimes while in office. His hand-over, widely praised by world leaders as a courageous move and a break with the past, boosted Belgrade's hopes of a US$1.3 billion foreign aid-and-investment pledge. A money transfusion is urgently needed to prevent the economy expiring from wounds inflicted by Milosevic's defiance of the world and Yugoslavia's resulting pariah status.

A dictator meets justice * Over the objections of Yugoslav President Kostinica, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zjinjic dispatched Milosevic to The Hague. * Milosevic is being given routine medical exams and will make his first appearance in the dock Tuesday morning. * It is likely to be well into next year before the trial begins. * Milosevic faces a maximum sentence of life in prison in one of the seven countries that accept Tribunal convicts. Source: reuters

"Nobody is happy when his or her former president is sent to The Hague tribunal, but it had to happen, and the sooner the better," Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus said.

The European Commission said it would donate 530 million euros in loans and grants to Yugoslavia, and Labus said Washington had pledged US$181.6 million for 2001.

Johannes Linn of the World Bank said the organization pledged US$150 million for this calendar year, adding this would form part of a US$540 million package spread over a five-year period.

Chilling the West's political euphoria over Milosevic's handover, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said it could fan the flames of separatism even as the international community battles to avert a fourth Balkan war in Macedonia.

"This will without doubt play into the hands of separatists in Kosovo and Montenegro wanting to leave the [Yugoslav] federation," Ivanov said in a statement. "They will probably not pass up the chance to use the current situation ... it is not difficult to imagine what it could lead to," Ivanov said.

The warning contrasted sharply with Western satisfaction.

"The transfer of Milosevic to The Hague is an unequivocal message to those persons who brought such tragedy and brutality to the Balkans that they will be held accountable for their crimes," US President George W. Bush said in a statement echoed by a raft of Western leaders.

Milosevic was whisked to the detention center by helicopter at 1am local time after a British military flight brought him to the Netherlands from Belgrade via Bosnia.

It could be next year before the trial begins and if convicted in The Hague, he faces a maximum sentence of life in jail in one of seven countries which accept convicted Tribunal cases.

For Tribunal chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, who has doggedly demanded stronger Western action to nail big name suspects despite the caveats of realpolitik, seeing Milosevic in custody was just part one of a personal triumph.

"This day will be remembered as an important milestone for international criminal justice," she said.

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