Milosevic arrest; extradition; tribunal detention video

The group is accused of forming a human shield outside the Belgrade villa where Milosevic was hiding, prosecutors said on November 20. They are charged with “obstructing justice and preventing law enforcement officers from performing their duty”.



Their initial hearing will be held in Belgrade on December 22.



At the time of the standoff, Milosevic was trying to evade an indictment issued by the Hague tribunal for his role in the war crimes and crimes against humanity in Kosovo.



Later, the tribunal would expand the case against him to include genocide in Bosnia and persecutions, murder, unlawful attacks on civilians and torture in Croatia between 1991 and 1995.



He had been ousted from power in October 2000 after massive protests across Serbia over vote rigging in the presidential elections.



The standoff ended with Milosevic’s arrest and transfer to the Hague tribunal in June 2001.



He died of a heart attack in March 2006 before his trial could be completed.



Sources in the United States administration are said to have told the Belgrade newspaper Danas that Washington will not contest Serbian president Boris Tadic’s recently announced moratorium on extraditing war crimes fugitives such as former General Ratko Mladic.



Tadic said the moratorium was necessary until after the January 21 elections, because such transfers could foster support for ultra-nationalist parties.



“No government would make such a move at such a delicate juncture,” said Tadic.



The UN has also put on hold its decision regarding “conditional independence” of Kosovo until after the elections.



However, the US still opposes Serbia’s accession to NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme as long as the arrest warrants remain unfulfilled. Joining the PfP is considered an important prerequisite to membership of the western military alliance.



This issue will be discussed at the upcoming NATO summit in Riga, Latvia, on November 28 and 29, but sources in Washington say a change in the US position is unlikely.



An administration source is said to have told Danas recently that the US and its NATO allies would appreciate a “concrete statement on efforts to arrest Ratko Mladic on the basis of his indictments for war crimes”.



The tribunal announced the November 22 launch of a seven-minute video showcasing their detention unit on the tribunal website.



A spokeswoman for the tribunal said the video is meant to make the workings of the detention more transparent. The move comes after the death of indictee and former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic and the suicide of former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic in his cell last spring.



The video’s narrator tells viewers that “the physical and emotional welfare [of detainees] is of paramount importance”.



It shows scenes from the detainees’ rooms, common area, lawyers’ meeting room, medical facilities, weight room, gym, library, spiritual room and educational and occupational therapy facilities.



The video also notes that detainees have their own computer, are allowed to play board games and can cook for themselves.



Currently, the video is available only in English, but representatives say other languages will be available soon.



The video and photographs of the detention unit can be viewed at http://www.un.org/icty/glance-e/index-du.htm.