Milosevic returns to trial after illness

Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic returned to court today after a two week recovery from flu to face evidence from a former Croatian defence minister.

Milosevic’s poor health has lead to nearly two months of postponements since his war crimes trial began in The Hague a year ago. At 61, he suffers high blood pressure and heart problems.

Serbia’s former president, Milan Milutinovic, a former Milosevic subordinate who is named as a co-defendant on Milosevic’s indictment, was scheduled to make his initial appearance before the UN court today to enter a plea to five counts of crimes against humanity during the Kosovo war.

Although he looked tired, Milosevic intently cross-examined former Croatian government minister Petar Kriste and contested his alleged role in attacks on the historic coastal resort of Dubrovnik in 1991.

Kriste said Milosevic’s forces “attacked from the land, the air, and the sea” in an attempt to capture the once thriving tourist area.

“Dubrovnik was referred to as the Serbian Athens and the attack was certainly part of a broader plan, of which the initial aim was to move the borders of Serbia to the west,” Kriste said.

“On the Croatian side, we didn’t just have saints and angels, but what your people did in Croatia only demons could have done,” he said, turning to Milosevic.

Three months of shelling damaged or destroyed hundreds of houses and buildings in the town mostly dating from its 17th century reconstruction. Prosecutors say the attacks were intended to force the incorporation of Dubrovnik into Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic.

Milosevic said Dubrovnik would have been an illogical target in a country he had considered “a friend” during his leadership.

“Serbia had nothing to do with that whole Dubrovnik affair,” he said, accusing the Croats of provoking the Serbs.

Milosevic is defending himself against 66 counts of war crimes – including genocide – allegedly committed during the Balkan upheavals in the 1990s.

Milutinovic surrendered to UN authorities in The Hague a week ago. Serbian authorities refused to hand him over to the court until then, citing his immunity as a serving head of government.

He is accused of criminal responsibility, along with Milosevic and three others, for the deportation of 800,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and the deaths of hundreds more by Serb forces during a crackdown on Serbia’s rebellious southern province in 1999.

He has denied wrongdoing, saying he had no real power to influence events.

Prosecutors hope Milutinovic will agree to testify against Milosevic.