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Milosevic may Face UN Court This Summer
Chief UN war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte said on Thursday she hoped Yugoslavia would hand over jailed ex-president Slobodan Milosevic to The Hague to face trial before the end of the summer.
Yugoslav legislation on cooperating with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia could be passed by the end of next month, allowing Milosevic to be transferred soon afterwards, Del Ponte told a news briefing in Geneva.
"We expect the internal law to be approved very soon... by the end of June. I believe (Yugoslav President Vojislav) Kostunica will allow the transfer of Milosevic after the approval of this law in parliament," the Swiss lawyer said.
"I'm confident that as soon as the law is approved, it will be possible to transfer Milosevic (to The Hague)," she said.
Prosecutors and tribunal officials received a draft version of the law in early April, although few details are known.
Milosevic is indicted for alleged atrocities by his security forces against ethnic Albanians in the 1999 Kosovo conflict. He was arrested in Belgrade on April 1 but on suspicion of corruption and abuse of power, not war crimes.
He was toppled in a popular uprising seven months ago and replaced by a democratic reform leadership.
If he is not transferred to the tribunal after the law is approved, Del Ponte said she would rely on pressure from the international community to ensure he was brought to face trial.
"I have nothing to make pressure. I have no instruments except to say I will not cooperate any more with (Yugoslavia's) corruption investigation."
Del Ponte also expressed dissatisfaction over the apparent reluctance of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia (SFOR) to arrest other prominent figures on the tribunal's wanted list.
"I have 38 fugitives...(such as Bosnian Serb wartime military commander Ratko) Mladic and (Bosnian Serb wartime political leader Radovan) Karadzic. Why are they not arrested? We are asking SFOR to be much more pro-active because this tribunal needs the possibility to bring these people to trial."
The tribunal has 67 public indictments outstanding, with 38 suspects in detention. There are also a number of sealed indictments that are not made public until an arrest is made to avoid tipping off a suspect considered a difficult catch.
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