International
Milosevic trial from Tuesday
THE HAGUE: Slobodan Milosevic goes on trial on Tuesday accused of masterminding ethnic cleansing in the Balkans in the 1990s in the biggest European war crimes trial since Hitler's henchmen were tried at Nuremberg. The former Yugoslav President is charged by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague with crimes against humanity in Croatia in 1991-92, genocide in the 1992-95 Bosnian war and crimes against humanity in Kosovo in 1999. The trial, a milestone for international justice, will probe his role in three bitter wars which convulsed the former communist Yugoslavia after its multi-ethnic republics were torn apart by nationalist fighting at the end of the Cold War. Mr. Milosevic has dismissed the charges as a vengeful conspiracy by the West to tarnish the memory of a 13-year rule. The wars sucked the West, the United Nations and NATO into shuttle diplomacy, peace-keeping, sanctions and air strikes. ``I am fully prepared to come to any hearing because this is not a battle that I will miss,'' Mr. Milosevic boldly told the court last month in his final showdown with prosecutors and judges before his trial. From massacres, mass graves and gruesome detention camps to the plight of refugees forced to leave their shattered homes, the proceedings against the former Serb strongman will cover the most bitter fighting in Europe since World War Two. More than one million people were imprisoned or forced from their homes and thousands were killed, maimed and wounded during the three conflicts. (The picture shows Mr Milosevic being brought to the court in the Hague during the framing of charges).
— Reuters
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