Slobodan Milosevic arrived in The Hague early on June 29, hours after Serb authorities handed the former Yugoslav president over to the UN war crimes tribunal to face charges of "crimes against humanity."
"I can confirm he has arrived in the detention unit," said Jim Landale, spokesman for the tribunal. Shortly before Landale spoke, reporters saw a police helicopter land inside the prison walls about 1:16 am local time (7:16 am Beijing time), while a second helicopter hovered overhead. Reporters could not see who may have left the helicopter, however. No details were released about where Milosevic's plane from the Balkans landed.
He was expected to be interviewed by tribunal officials who will read the charges against him and explain his rights. Milosevic will also undergo a medical examination to determine any special health requirements while in detention.
There was no word on when he will be arraigned.
"The forthcoming trial of a former head of state is a new and irreversible step in relation to the international community's resolve to fight against impunity," tribunal President Claude Jorda said.
Milosevic's transfer could free up billions of dollars in aid that Washington has linked to his extradition, which came the day before a Belgium conference to discuss those funds.
Earlier Thursday, Serbian officials in the capital of Belgrade delivered the former leader to a tribunal official, ignoring a court ruling that barred his extradition to stand trial for alleged atrocities in Kosovo.
Milosevic was apparently flown aboard a Serb aircraft to Tuzla, headquarters for the American peacekeeping operation in Bosnia, where he was transferred to a British aircraft and flown to the The Hague.
Praising the move to extradite Milosevic, President Bush called it proof the Balkan nation wants to turn away from "its tragic past and toward a brighter future."
The swift move by Serbia - by far the most powerful of Yugoslavia's remaining two republics - reportedly caught lawyers for Milosevic by surprise.
The state Tanjug news agency said that President Vojislav Kostunica, Milosevic's successor, was informed of the hand-over only after it happened. His lawyers expressed astonishment of news that their client had been surrendered.
An attorney for Milosevic, Branimir Gugl, accused the authorities of kidnapping his client.
"The process of extradition without the presence of attorneys is tantamount to an abduction," he said. Another of his lawyers, Toma Fila, said: "I cannot believe that this has happened."
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic is the first Balkan leader to declare publicly that he is prepared to testify at The Hague about Milosevic if he is summoned.
Speaking through an interpreter at a journalism conference sponsored by the Freedom Forum in Zagreb, Croatia, the reformist president of Croatia said he will certainly "respond positively" to any request that he testify before the U.N. War crimes tribunal and added that he is prepared to offer "facts."
"He has inflicted much harm upon many...primarily the Serbian people," Mesic said. Milosevic "initiated ethnic cleansing," Mesic said, adding that the time has come for Milosevic to pay for what he did. "The victims are many."
The Croatian president also believes Milosevic will try to portray himself as a martyr at The Hague.
'"Once the reality sinks in (of Milosevic being handed over to the UN) there will be a collective sigh of relief," said Dennis Snider, the Canadian ambassador to Croatia. "Psychologically it's tremendously important."
Because of the arrest, the region is bound to improve its ability to attract international aid. "It turns a page," Snider said. "Investment will come, help will come."
Alessandro Fracassetti, spokesman for the Croatian mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that based on his experience in the region the arrest will certainly evoke a "sense of relief."
Many will see it as a signal to move ahead in trying to rebuild their lives or return to long-abandoned homes.
A UN official said there were probably several factors prompting the Serbian government to hand over Milosevic. For one thing, the Serbs may have finally decided to shed their negative image in the world community. The Serbian government probably also decided that they stood a better chance of political survival with Milosevic gone, because he still commands significant popular support in Belgrade.
Reformists were elated. Ante Gavranovic, former president of the Croatian Journalists Association, said the move by the Serbian government indicates it is genuinely intent on fostering democracy, and that, he said, "could have a very large impact on the democratization of this entire region."
Gavranovic also said the arrest creates hope that other alleged war criminals in the region who have long evaded arrest will also be brought to justice.
As word spread of the transfer, about 3,000 pro-Milosevic supporters gathered in downtown Belgrade. "Uprising, uprising," the crowd chanted. Some took swings at television crews covering their demonstration. Several people were badly beaten.
Milosevic's wife, Mirjana Markovic, briefly appeared at the central prison's gate but turned back without entering.
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic said there was no choice for Yugoslavia but to surrender Milosevic or face renewed international isolation and a freeze on financial aid, leading to "unprecedented humiliation."
Landale said Milosevic's extradition: "Marks a very important moment in the life of this institution."
NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson called the move a "wise and courageous decision."
The UN war crimes tribunal was founded in 1993. Milosevic would be the first former head of state tried by the court. Former Japanese Prime Minister Tojo was tried convicted and executed by a war crimes court from 1946-47, but it was not a U.N. court.
Milosevic, 59, has been in jail since April while local allegations of abuse of power and corruption were investigated. He was indicted by the UN tribunal for alleged atrocities committed in Kosovo during an offensive two years ago against the province's ethnic Albanian population. About 10,000 ethnic Albanians were estimated to have died in the crackdown, which ended after NATO's 78-day bombing campaign.
The charges in the May 1999 indictment include crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war. The war crimes tribunal has said it is preparing a possible case against Milosevic for genocide in connection with atrocities committed in the wars in Bosnia and Croatia.
He once described himself as the "Ayatollah Khomeini of Serbia," declaring that "the Serbs will follow me no matter what." For years, they did - through wars which dismembered Yugoslavia. But in the end, his people abandoned him.
Ahead of a key aid conference in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday, Yugoslavia's government had intensified its efforts to extradite Milosevic in order to meet international demands.
Washington on Wednesday announced it would send representatives to the donors' conference, after weeks of waiting to see how serious Yugoslavia's efforts were. Yugoslavia is in need of billions of dollars worth of foreign aid after 13 years of rule by Milosevic, which ended in October after riots forced him to concede losing elections.
Earlier Thursday, Milosevic appeared to have won more time in his fight to avoid trial by the tribunal when judges on the Constitutional Court suspended a federal government decree allowing his extradition.
The court - made up of judges appointed under Milosevic - ruled it needed more time to consider the government decree enabling the handover.
The decision to bypass the court decision came from the government of Serbia, which together with Montenegro makes up the Yugoslav federation. Senior Serbian officials had served notice they would surrender Milosevic to the tribunal even if the federal Constitutional Court suspended the extradition decree.
In a statement explaining the move, Djindjic said his government had decided to take over the jurisdiction from federal authorities on the extradition law.
He called the Constitutional Court decision "an attempt to compromise the entire future of our country ... a sellout of Serbia's future."
(06/29/2001) (chinadaily.com.cn)
