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Lawyer Says Milosevic Refuses Transfer Hearing - International Justice - Global Policy Forum Lawyer Says Milosevic Refuses Transfer Hearing
Reuters
June 27, 2001Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic refused on Wednesday to take part in a hearing paving the way for his transfer to the U.N. war crimes tribunal, one of his lawyers said. The lawyer, Veselin Cerovic, said the former Yugoslav leader had refused to give a statement to an investigating judge because his defense team had applied for the removal from the case of several local justice officials handling it.
``We are requesting an urgent decision. The process continues. We shall get a reply possibly today or tomorrow,'' Cerovic told reporters outside the prison where Milosevic is being held as part of a domestic corruption investigation.
The investigating judge had been expected to present Milosevic with the details of the tribunal's request for his transfer, confirm his personal details and ask him how he pleads to the accusations against him.
The tribunal in The Hague has indicted Milosevic on charges of crimes against humanity, accusing him of responsibility for the mass killings and expulsions of Kosovo Albanians in 1999.
Reformist ministers in Yugoslavia's government, under heavy Western pressure, pushed through a decree on Saturday setting out a procedure for the transfer of suspects to the tribunal.
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