Belgrade Approves Milosevic Transfer

A reformist majority in the Yugoslav Cabinet, overriding resistance from coalition partners and fierce criticism from political opponents, rammed through a decree Saturday authorizing the transfer of war crimes suspects to the U.N. tribunal in The Hague.

That endorsement set the stage for the transfer of 16 indictees, including former President Slobodan Milosevic, to begin in a “matter of days,” Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus told a news conference.

Asked later whether Milosevic will be sent within a week, Labus told The Times: “I don’t know exactly. It will take a few days. But I’m sure that some other cases will start immediately.”

Steps to hand over Milosevic and other suspects now depend on “district courts and the Serbian government,” he continued. “I’m sure they are ready to proceed very quickly.”

Milosevic, who was indicted by the tribunal in 1999 for crimes against humanity in connection with his troops’ brutal treatment of ethnic Albanians in the province of Kosovo, is being held in a Belgrade prison on domestic charges of corruption and abuse of power.

In a statement from his lawyer released Saturday, the former president described himself as a “moral victor.”

“I was leading the people and armies that stopped the terrible force of the NATO alliance attempting to destroy the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country,” Milosevic said, in a reference to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 11-week bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999.

“I have done everything in the interest of the people and the state,” the statement continued. “It was difficult to make decisions, but I was always inspired by our glorious history. . . . My conscience is clear.”

A democratic coalition took power in Yugoslavia and Serbia, its dominant republic, last year when Milosevic was ousted after he was defeated at the polls and street protests demanded his departure.

The 18-party Democratic Opposition of Serbia fully controls the Serbian government, but it rules at the federal level in alliance with the Socialist People’s Party, which is based in Montenegro, Yugoslavia’s smaller republic. That party was previously allied with Milosevic, and its refusal to support a law on cooperation with the Hague tribunal led the Serbian reformists to resort to issuing a decree.

The Socialists’ governing body is due to decide today whether its members should resign from the Cabinet. Such resignations could trigger a government collapse and new federal elections.

The reformists acted Saturday under great pressure from a U.S. demand that Yugoslavia show cooperation with the war crimes tribunal to ensure American participation in a donors conference scheduled to begin Friday in Brussels.

Belgrade officials hope that the conference will approve about $1.2 billion in aid for them--roughly half from the United States--and launch restructuring of $12 billion that their country owes. A successful conference is seen as crucial to averting a collapse of government finances and a sharp worsening of economic difficulties.

But Labus, the deputy prime minister, insisted at his news conference that the extradition decree was issued out of a desire to meet international obligations, not in response to pressure.

“We are not selling anybody,” he declared.

About 300 mostly elderly Milosevic supporters gathered Saturday evening outside the prison where the former president is being held. They shouted, “Set Slobo free!” and “Treason! Treason!” Several carried placards with his photo and the phrase “We love you Slobo.”

More than 100 riot police were marshaled in the neighborhood--on a bus and at a police station. But only a few officers patrolled the demonstration, which dispersed peacefully after organizers told the protesters to gather again this evening.

Milosevic’s Socialist Party of Serbia called for a protest rally in downtown Belgrade on Tuesday and issued a “proclamation” that declared: “Dear citizens: Say a decisive ‘No’ to the traitors! Say ‘No’ to those who would like to sell Serbia’s soul and its honor for a fistful of dollars!”

In a separate statement, the party described the extradition decree as a “most flagrant violation of the constitution . . . which forbids the surrender of our citizens.”

Western governments and tribunal officials have insisted that a constitutional ban on extradition of Yugoslav citizens to foreign countries does not block Belgrade from honoring its international obligation to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

But reformers concerned about the legal basis for handing over suspects had hoped to at least pass a law on the issue. They resorted to issuing a decree after they failed to win sufficient support in the Yugoslav parliament.

Some analysts question whether Socialist Party support for Milosevic is sincere or is motivated in part by a desire to score political points with supporters.

A commentary Friday in the English-language VIP Daily News Report, which is edited by respected political analyst Bratislav Grubacic, reported that “according to several sources” within the Socialist Party leadership, “this party would prefer if Milosevic would either commit suicide or be transferred to The Hague as soon as possible, so that this party would be able to rid itself of Milosevic’s heritage and transform itself into a modern opposition party.”

Milosevic’s parents committed suicide, as did an uncle. His daughter, Marija, reportedly urged him to kill himself on the night he was arrested nearly three months ago. Observers have often speculated that his end might come in this way. But Serbian media reported after his arrest that, in line with normal prison procedures, precautions were being taken to prevent such an outcome, including denying him use of shoestrings and belts.

Labus said passage of the decree and the pending transfer of suspects to The Hague gave Yugoslavia and Serbia “the opportunity for recovery and development and full integration into the international community.”

Recent media revelations about mass grave sites in Serbia containing the bodies of civilians from Kosovo, allegedly buried as part of an attempt by Milosevic to conceal his crimes, have further eroded public support for the former president, who once was viewed as a national hero. Serbian Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic told a news conference Wednesday that he believes the graves contain about 1,000 corpses.

A survey by the Strategic Marketing and Media Research Institute published Friday showed that 46% of respondents backed cooperation with The Hague and 36% opposed it.

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Yugoslavia War Crimes Court

A brief look at the United Nations’ International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia:

The Court

The tribunal was established under a 1993 U.N. Security Council resolution and opened in The Hague in 1994. The court has a mandate to prosecute people for serious violations of international humanitarian law in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991.

Indictees

The court has publicly indicted 100 people. Of those, 38 are in custody in The Hague, four are serving prison sentences in other U.N. member countries and 26 are still at large. Charges were dropped against 18 suspects, two were acquitted, three have been previously released and nine died before they could be tried.

Top Suspects

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who is in prison in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic; Gen. Dragoljub Ojdanic, former Yugoslav army chief of staff; former Serbian Interior Minister Vlajko Stojilkovic; and former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Salnovic, a close aide of Milosevic. All are still living in Yugoslavia, and with the exception of Milosevic, none has been arrested. They are charged with two counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of violation of the laws or customs of war.

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief, Gen. Ratko Mladic, indicted jointly in 1995 on charges stemming from the 1992-95 Bosnian war. Karadzic is believed to be in the Bosnian Serb part of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Mladic in Belgrade.

Source: Associated Press

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Times special correspondent Zoran Cirjakovic contributed to this report.