Milosevic to fight extradition decree

Slobodan Milosevic’s lawyers were promising to go to a high court today to challenge a government decree paving the way for Yugoslavia’s former president to be extradited to the United Nations war crimes tribunal.

Toma Fila, head of Milosevic’s 10-member defence team, said his lawyers would demand that the constitutional court blocks implementation of the decree until it decides whether the measure was illegal.

The UN war crimes court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, is seeking to try Milosevic for alleged war crimes committed in Kosovo during the 1998-99 war.

The United States and its allies have hailed the Yugoslav Government decision to clear legal obstacles for the extradition of Milosevic and more then a dozen other war crimes suspects sought by The Hague court.

Yugoslavia risks losing billions in foreign investment if it fails to co-operate with The Hague court. Efforts at improving ties with the UN tribunal have intensified ahead of a donors’ conference set for Friday in Brussels, Belgium.

Some Serbian officials have suggested that the appeals process could delay any extradition for more than two weeks. If extradited, Milosevic would be the first former head of state to face a war crimes trial in front of the UN court, established in 1992.

The decree, passed by the Yugoslav Government on Saturday, took effect the following day. It was not immediately clear how soon any legal procedure for Milosevic’s extradition will start.

Fila denounced the measure as ‘‘legal piracy’’. He said Milosevic read the decree and also said it was illegal because nearly half of the ministers in the Yugoslav Cabinet were absent when it was agreed.

‘‘This was a political decision and it renders the law helpless against such bullying methods,’’ Fila said.

The decree is the work of federal Government ministers from Serbia, the larger of the two Yugoslav republics. Ministers from the sister republic, Montenegro, oppose the extradition of Yugoslav citizens but are outnumbered in the Cabinet.

The Montenegrin ministers offered to resign their Cabinet posts - a move that may ultimately lead to a Government collapse and a call for new elections.

The decree permits the Governments of Serbia or Montenegro to object to a particular extradition case, although the final authority rests with the federal Justice Ministry.

Milosevic has been in Belgrade’s Central Prison since April 1 pending an investigation into allegations of corruption and abuse of power during his tenure, and investigations have recently widened to encompass allegations he covered up Kosovo atrocities.