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The UN war crimes court in The Hague has decided to resume the Slobodan Milosevic case on July 14 if his health allows, according to a ruling statement received in Brussels Wednesday.
The case of the former Yugoslav president was adjourned Monday when he was to launch his defense, with doctors saying his high blood pressure and heart problems made him unfit for trial.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ruled that the trial will then be adjourned on July 21 again until the end of August, allowing Milosevic more time to prepare for the presentation of his case.
The judges also ruled that a cardiologist will be called in to examine the ailing ex-president, 62, to determine whether he is physically fit to make his own defense. The registrar is asked to prepare a list of lawyers who could serve as Milosevic's defense counsel in case of need.
"There is no evidence that the accused is not fit to stand trial at all, but there is evidence that the health of the accused is such that he may not be fit to continue to represent himself," the judges said in their ruling.
Milosevic has been working on his defense since the prosecution finished its case in February. The judges said they might assign a defense lawyer to either help Milosevic with preparation and representation of his defense or, in exceptional cases, take over the defense.
Milosevic faces more than 60 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his alleged central role in the wars in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
The trial has been postponed for a number of times due to poor health of the accused since it started in February 2002. The case is expected to be concluded in 2005 at the earliest.
(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2004)
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