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History now will be Milosevic's judge: AP
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-12 10:50
The possibility of his death before the trial's conclusion was the trial
judges' nightmare. With his history of chronic heart problems, frequent flu
attacks, late nights preparing his defense and the stress of the courtroom,
Milosevic was always at high risk.
"Milosevic came from Belgrade with a heart problem, so they knew from the
beginning they would have this problem. The problem was, it was impossible to
change course part way through" and still be fair to both sides, said Heikelina
Verrijn Stuart, a Dutch lawyer who has closely followed the trial.
Last year, the judges suggested splitting the Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo
cases so that at least one could be completed quickly. Both Milosevic and the
prosecutors objected, and the idea was dropped.
The judges also imposed a court-appointed legal team for Milosevic. Sensing
his spotlight in history and the chance to grandstand for his home audience in
Serbia, he refused to even speak to the two British attorneys. Ultimately, they
withdrew.
The judges "were deathly afraid that they would try him to death. And they
did. That's exactly what happened," said Scharf, director of the Frederick K.
Cox International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
In hindsight, the legal experts said, the judges made a series of mistakes.
They should not have allowed an ailing man to defend himself, they should not
have agreed to join the three indictments into a single case and they should not
have isolated Milosevic from other defendants facing the same charges.
If others had been in the dock, the case would have continued.
Milosevic "ended up cheating history. One of main purposes of the tribunal
was to create a historic record of atrocities and of who was responsible that
would pierce years of propaganda," Scharf said.
The testimony and much of the records in the Milosevic case are still
available to prosecutors to use in other war crimes trial and for scholars. More
than 70 defendants are currently involved in court proceedings.
Those records also are being cited heavily in another U.N. court, the
International Court of Justice, which is hearing a civil suit by Bosnia against
Serbia for genocide 錕斤拷 the first time a state has been put on trial for
humanity's worst crime.
The evidence coming out at the two courts "is helping to build an
indisputable record of criminality," said Dicker of the New York-based Human
Rights Watch.
"It would have been far better to have a verdict handed down by the tribunal
on Milosevic's responsibility," said Dicker. But "history has already passed its
verdict on Slobodan Milosevic's role and responsibility."
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