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Milosevic Shows Subdued Side at Trial - International Justice - Global Policy Forum Milosevic Shows Subdued Side at Trial
By Katarina Kratovac
Associated Press
April 23, 2003Slobodan Milosevic frowned as an elderly Bosnian man burst into tears while describing how he survived a 1992 massacre of 70 civilians in his Muslim village. Growing confused, the prosecution witness forgot the date of the crimes and the number of bodies left by Serb forces marching out of the ruins of Glogova, eastern Bosnia.
But just as the former Yugoslav president was expected to unleash his usual fierce cross-examination and ridiculing remarks, he took an uncharacteristically mild approach. "There is no point for me in questioning this witness, he apparently remembers nothing," Milosevic told the three judges.
More than a year into his landmark trial, the 61-year-old seems to have changed his fighting style as he takes on 66 counts of war crimes, including genocide, brought by U.N. prosecutors. After spending months arguing with the judges, contesting the legality of the court and taking every opportunity to address his home audience in Serbia, his courtroom theatrics have faded. Trial watchers say Milosevic is beginning to lose his air of self confidence and is even considering taking on legal help to fight his defense.
"Milosevic raves less in court and is getting more engaged in the trial," said Judith Armatta, of the Coalition for International Justice. "He cannot maintain his alternate structure of the universe and keeps playing by his own rules." Milosevic's frequent bouts of flu and soaring blood pressure have so far caused the cancellation of one-fifth of the court sessions. With four days a week in court, he simply cannot go through the staggering 400,000 pages of prosecution evidence.
"In the beginning, he played to the public opinion in Serbia," said Richard Dicker, head of the international justice program at Human Rights Watch. "But as more Serb witnesses are testifying against him, he is forced to deal with the evidence linking him to specific events and crimes." Still, Milosevic's dark humor occasionally resurfaces.
Last week, as the trial moved to the 1992-95 Bosnian war after having covered the Croatian and Kosovo conflicts, Milosevic mocked a witness who described how Serb troops returned muddy and tired to their base in a Western Serbian spa town after pillaging Muslim villages in nearby Bosnia. "That was probably from jogging and training, or some other activity usual for a tourist resort," he suggested.
But what may be hitting his morale hardest is not failing health or trial fatigue, but blows from home. His wife, Mirjana Markovic, who used to come to the Netherlands for regular visits, is now a fugitive from justice, having reportedly fled to Russia. A warrant for her arrest was issued in Belgrade after last month's discovery of the body of one of Milosevic's political rivals, former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic.
Another setback was the arrest of Milosevic's former security chiefs, Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, detained in connection with the March 12 assassination of reformist Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, a key figure in Milosevic's transfer to the tribunal.
In a development that could hurt his defense case, the Serbian government this week disbanded a team of hardline Milosevic loyalists who had been supplying him with key secret service documents for his defense.
Serbia's deputy prime minister, Zarko Korac, says that if the investigation into Stambolic's slaying proves Milosevic was directly responsible, he will be "completely discredited in the eyes of so-called Serb patriots." "Even his most ardent supporters can no longer overlook such horrors as liquidation of political opponents," Korac said.
Government claims that paramilitaries loyal to Milosevic committed political murder for money — likely under his or his wife's orders — had a bombshell impact at home. "All of Belgrade now knows something that has eluded The Hague court: in the space of a single day more was achieved in uncovering the criminal nature of Milosevic's regime," said Ljijana Smajlovic, commentator in the NIN weekly.
"Milosevic intuitively knows that the battle he has waged at The Hague for over a year was irrevocably lost when Stambolic's body was found in a lime pit," Smajlovic said. "For his supporters, Milosevic's political stature and charisma have been torn to shreds."
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