UN won't force Milosevic to accept lawyer

The UN war crimes court will not force former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to accept a defence lawyer against his will in the trial against him.

After studying a report on Milosevic’s health, Judge Richard May said today the court decided the trial will continue on schedule, “with due allowance being made for illness and such rest days as appropriate.”

Milosevic, 61, who suffers from high blood pressure and heart problems, has fallen ill several times, causing delays in an already lengthy trial. He is defending himself in the trial.

Judges already have reduced the number of court days in each two week period from 10 to eight and have introduced frequent breaks.

The prosecution had been granted one extension to conclude its case and must finish by May, but the ruling in The Hague today said prosecutors will have no further extensions beyond the days lost due to Milosevic’s illnesses. So far, that amounts to about one month.

Milosevic, looking weary and pale, today engaged in a heated argument with witness Pero Poljanic, the former mayor of the Croatian coastal city of Dubrovnik.

Answering prosecution questions, Poljanic recalled receiving an ultimatum from Yugoslav forces demanding the surrender of his historic city.

“This was absolutely unacceptable. It would mean handing over the entire area ... including areas that had not been occupied,” Poljanic said.

Milosevic attacked Poljanic’s credibility by arguing that parts of his testimony conflicted with testimony delivered by other prosecution witnesses. The argument grew so heated that at times Poljanic almost rose in anger from the witness chair.

At one point, Poljanic asked Milosevic whether he was familiar with a song he said was sung by Serb militias: ”Come on Slobo, send us some salad! We’re going to have some Croatian meat so we need salad.”

Milosevic denied knowing the song and later asked Poljanic whether he was familiar with slogans that compared Serbs to dogs. Poljanic said he didn’t.

Milosevic argued the Yugoslav Army only shelled Dubrovnik in self-defence after coming under attack.