Milosevic's lawyer again pleads for the sack

Slobodan Milosevic’s war crimes trial resumed in The Hague today with the court hearing a man's request to be dismissed as a standby lawyer for the former Yugoslav president.

Barrister Steven Kay, appointed in September to defend Milosevic against the former leader’s will, filed a “motion for withdrawal”.

He said Milosevic was uncooperative, and many defence witnesses refused to come to court to be questioned by Kay and his assistant, Gillian Higgins.

Appeals judges ruled last week that Milosevic – whose trial began more than two and a half years ago – could again lead his own defence, but must have a standby lawyer in case he becomes too ill to continue.

Prosecutors opposed that, saying Milosevic’s politicised statements show he is unfit as his own lawyer. They also feared renewed delays because of his ill health.

Presiding Judge Patrick Robertson questioned his chamber’s jurisdiction to resolve the issue.

Milosevic, 63, faces 66 war crimes charges for alleged offences during the decade-long break-up of the former Yugoslavia. He has questioned hundreds of witnesses and prepared his own defence, though he says he considers the tribunal illegal.

The compromise decision to allow him to question witnesses himself was a rare courtroom victory for Milosevic.

But Mr Kay, who is now supposed to step in only when Milosevic falls ill, said the relationship with Milosevic has made it impossible for him to continue.

“The relationship between the accused and us has been completely destroyed,” Mr Kay said. “I do not want to play yo-yo on this issue in this building.”

He said forcing him to proceed against Milosevic’s will would be a violation of the code of ethics and ”fundamentally flaw” the proceedings.