Trial of Milosevic Starts in The Hague

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 13, 2002

Trial of Milosevic Starts in The Hague

The trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic started on Tuesday in an international court in Hague, Netherlands.

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The trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic started on Tuesday in an international court in Hague, Netherlands.

This is the first time a former head of state is being tried by an international court.

The former Yugoslav leader is being tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in regional wars during the period from 1991 to 1999. He faces a total of 66 counts of crimes.

Tuesday's trial procedure started with evidence relevant only to the charges relating to Kosovo, according to the tribunal, set up by the United Nations in 1993.

The trial process is expected to last at least two years.

"Let us take a moment at the start of this trial to reflect upon the establishment of this tribunal and its purpose. We should just pause to recall the daily scenes of grief and suffering that came to define armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia," said the tribunal's chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte.

Carla Del Ponte told the judges that the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and other crimes within the jurisdiction of this tribunal are not local affairs, and thereby "their prosecution may be beyond the capability of a national court."

However, Milosevic had said that he did not recognize the legitimacy of the U.N. tribunal and the charges against him.

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