Slobodan Milosevic will mount his own "very powerful defence" against "war crimes charges" in The Hague but wants lawyers to assist him in court, former US attorney general Ramsey Clark said on Wednesday.
"He's a person who's used to speaking for himself and he will speak for himself, but he wants to have the assistance of counsel," Clark said after visiting the detained former Yugoslav president for a third consecutive day in The Hague.
Milosevic, in a show of contempt for a court he has branded an "illegal instrument" of his NATO enemies, made his first appearance in court last month alone after opting not to appoint a defence lawyer.
Milosevic's unorthodox wish to have lawyers assisting him both in court and in the UN detention unit while declining to follow the standard practice of granting power of attorney has proved a headache for tribunal officials.
"There's no precedence for this. Any proposals like that would have to be looked at by the judges and the court registry," UN tribunal spokesman Jim Landale said.
If he indeed represents himself during the trial, expected to start next year, he would be the first defendant at The Hague tribunal to do so. Legal experts have suggested such a strategy would be foolish.
But lawyers supporting Milosevic, including Clark, have said he wants to seek expert legal advice without actually granting power of attorney.
"He'll not be represented...He will have the advice of counsel on a whole range of things...He's going to mount a very powerful defence," said Clark, a member of the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic.
Milosevic is being held in isolation from The Hague's other 39 detainees. The UN court said the former leader wanted to be kept apart from other detainees, but Clark said Milosevic did want to mix with other detainees.
Clark, 73, a campaigner for causes often at odds with US authorities, served as attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson in the late 1960s. He condemned the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia during the conflict over Kosovo.
(Chinadaily.com.cn 08/02/2001)
