 |
Russian Duma Approves Appeal for Banning Milosevic's Extradition
The Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on Thursday approved an appeal calling on Yugoslav authorities to refrain from extraditing former President Slobodan Milosevic to the Hague tribunal.
The appeal, passed by a vote of 268 to 92, said the approval of Milosevic's extradition, which was considered "under heavy pressure from outside," would undermine the stability in Europe by causing a split in Yugoslavia.
The adoption of the appeal coincided with a Thursday decision of the Yugoslav Constitutional Court which suspended implementation of a government decree intended to pave the way for Milosevic's transfer to the U.N. war tribunal.
The Yugoslav government on June 23 passed the decree designed to cooperate with the Hague tribunal, which is seen as the first step toward turning Milosevic over to the court.
The decree triggered off days of protests in Belgrade by supporters of the ex-president, who has been held in custody since April 1 on suspicion of abuse of office and "financial machinations."
Borislav Milosevic, Milosevic's elder brother who was a former Yugoslav Ambassador to Moscow, welcomed the Duma appeal, but asked for more Russian influence on the issue.
Leading Russian lawmakers earlier had expressed regrets over the decree, which were confirmed by the appeal.
"I don't support (the decision) to hand over Milosevic in exchange for American money," Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov said, urging the Yugoslav parliament to have its say on this account.
Deputy Speaker of Duma Vladimir Lukin sharply denounced the United States for issuing an ultimatum to force Belgrade to extradite Milosevic to the war crimes court.
The issue of Milosevic's extradition was politicized from the beginning, he said, "I do not see Albanian terrorists in this court."
Washington has conditioned its participation in a crucial donor conference on Yugoslav cooperation with the U.N. tribunal. The conference, scheduled for Friday in Brussels, was meant to raise the badly needed money to rebuild the war-torn country.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, on behalf of the Russian government, said Tuesday that the issue is an affair of Yugoslavia, which should be decided by Yugoslavia's competent bodies without any external interference.
In This Section
|