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Milosevic ordered held for 30 days©Associated Press © St. Petersburg Times, published April 2, 2001 BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- A haggard Slobodan Milosevic proclaimed his innocence of corruption charges linked to his dictatorial 13-year rule as authorities questioned the former president Sunday and ordered him jailed for 30 days. Though the Yugoslav government says it intends to try him at home for ruining the nation, the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, stepped up pressure for Milosevic to be handed over to face prosecution over alleged atrocities in Kosovo. "We are expecting him soon. It will be Milosevic in The Hague in 2001," tribunal spokeswoman Florence Hartmann said Sunday. Another spokesman, Jim Landale, said Yugoslavia had a "binding obligation" to turn him over. Milosevic's lawyer said the 59-year-old ousted leader, now in Belgrade's Central Prison, was exhausted and had been sedated after a 26-hour armed standoff in his besieged villa and a stormy night of negotiations that ended with his surrender to police before dawn Sunday. His lawyer, Toma Fila, said Milosevic told an interrogating judge Sunday that he was not guilty of "a single count of the charge sheet." The judge ordered Milosevic held for 30 days as prosecutors gather evidence -- an order Fila said his client was appealing. "He decided to defend himself. He will speak up and tell the truth," Fila said. Prosecutors allege that as president of Serbia and later Yugoslavia, Milosevic conspired with four top aides to steal about $390-million in Yugoslav dinars and German marks from the country's treasury. The charges carry a maximum of five years in prison on conviction. More serious charges could be raised over the months ahead, possibly including involvement in a series of political assassinations. The questioning was to resume Tuesday. Justice officials said Milosevic, who as president enjoyed unrivaled deference and luxury, would be treated no better than any other prisoner. "He has his own room," said Vladan Batic, justice minister of Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic. "He will be given food, allowed visitors, to have his own clothes and footwear, money, books, newspapers. He will not be subjected to any kind of physical harassment, no psychological pressure." But Fila said his client would have to adjust to life behind bars. "This is no five-star hotel," he told reporters, pointing to the huge, gray, communist-era building behind him. "This is a Balkan prison. . . . Some cells are better, which means he has hot and cold water, but no TV or radio, or a gym or a swimming pool." Describing Milosevic as a "reasonable man who did not want any more Serb blood to be spilled," Fila blamed authorities for provoking the violence that preceded the arrest by sending riot police to storm the residence. Milosevic's arrest followed a Saturday deadline on U.S. threats to suspend $50-million in economic aid if President Vojislav Kostunica's government did not show willingness to cooperate with the war crimes tribunal. But government officials said the detention was not linked to the deadline. Kostunica has refused to extradite Milosevic to The Hague, insisting he should be tried at home for corruption and other alleged crimes. But Yugoslav authorities clearly hope the arrest will lead to certification that they have met conditions for the aid. Batic, the justice minister, said the arrest had "at this moment" no link to extradition demands by The Hague court. His choice of words suggested that authorities might consider handing the former president over to the U.N. court once he is tried domestically, and if parliament lifts a current ban on extraditing Yugoslav citizens. With sentiment at home overwhelmingly anti-Milosevic, some in the leadership might be hoping that lingering opposition to extradition will erode if he is found guilty of significant criminal wrongdoing at home.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
