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Yugoslav Party Warns of More Protests Against Jail of Milosevic
Yugoslavia's Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) on Thursday warned that it will launch more large- scale protests if former Yugoslav president and current party leader Slobodan Milosevic is not freed.
The government no longer has solid evidence to justify the arrest and detention of Milosevic, Branko Ruzzch, spokesman for the SPS, told reporters.
The SPS is strongly against extraditing Milosevic to the international tribunal in The Hague, he said, warning that the extradition would infuriate the Yugoslav people.
Ruzzch noted that the so-called "unmarked burial-mound" issue is a rumor which some people can use as an excuse to extradite Milosevic to The Hague. He asked the government to investigate the issue and get the truth thoroughly and clearly.
Yugoslavia is under intense international pressure, particularly from the Untied States, to agree to hand over the former president to The Hague before an international donors' conference scheduled for June 29.
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica said earlier that the federal government is faced with a difficult choice.
Milosevic was arrested on April 1 on charges of abuse of office and other crimes, and the Belgrade District Court ruled on April 30 that Milosevic's one-month detention would be extended for another two months.
Also on Thursday, Milosevic's defense lawyer Zdenko Tomanovich told the press that some SPS members agreed to get Milosevic out for medical parole on the pledge of estate valued at 250 million German marks (109.6 million U.S. dollars).
Milosevic's defense lawyers submitted a similar request to the Belgrade District Court on June 5, seeking his release for medical treatment with his two houses as collateral.
The request was turned down by the court on June 14, which said the public funds embezzled by Milosevic were far more than what the two houses were worth.
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