Milosevic contemptuous of UN court, says wife

Defiant even as he awaits trial for alleged crimes against humanity, Slobodan Milosevic remains contemptuous of the UN war crimes tribunal and will continue to represent himself, his wife said today.

Back in Belgrade from a three day visit to see her husband at the tribunal’s detention centre in The Hague, Mirjana Markovic reiterated the couple’s mutual scorn for the court as ‘‘a political instrument against Serb people.’’

Markovic, the former first lady who helped Milosevic rise to power and was his key political ally during his rule and the wars he oversaw, said he had no plans to appoint a defence team.

‘‘He sticks to his decision not to name lawyers for the court, but will have lawyers who will help him as assistants in preparing his own appearance’’ before the tribunal when the trial begins, probably later this year, Markovic said.

‘‘We are in contact with lawyers every day,’’ Markovic added. She said ‘‘a strategy’’ had been developed for Milosevic’s future appearances in court, but declined to elaborate.

She complained about the conditions under which she talked to her husband during her strictly limited and monitored stay in the Netherlands - a visit made possible only after a special exemption to a standing European Union travel ban that applies to the Milosevic family.

‘‘We saw each other only through glass. We talked over the microphones,’’ she said. ‘‘He has lights turned on 24 hours a day in his cell ... I think that is some sort of pressure on him.’’

Markovic, who was Milosevic’s childhood sweetheart and was widely considered a power behind the scene during his 13 years in power, said her husband’s spirit was ‘‘superior, as always.’’

Asked about the recent discovery of several mass graves in which dozens of bodies were found, apparently those of ethnic Albanians killed during the 1998-99 crackdown on Kosovo, Markovic dismissed suggestions that her husband was responsible.

‘‘Everything about the mass graves is a pervert, morbid idea born in someone’s sick mind, directed against the interests of our people and citizens of our country,’’ she said.

Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians took up arms in 1998 to win independence for the province, which is in Serbia, the main Yugoslav republic. Milosevic sent troops against the guerrillas, and the ensuing brutality against civilians prompted punishing Nato air strikes against Yugoslavia.

‘‘I see no other purpose of those mass grave) but to make Serbian people blame themselves for crimes which they didn’t commit,’’ Markovic said.