Milosevic duo released ahead of Tribunal appearances

The UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague released two top aides to former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic today pending the start of their trials.

The move was branded a “huge mistake” by a prominent human rights activist.

Former Milosevic state security chief Jovica Stanisic and his deputy, Franko Simatovic, arrived in Belgrade from The Hague, Netherlands, this evening, according to the official Tanjug news agency.

The two were charged last year in connection with war crimes committed by Serbian secret service troops during wars in Croatia and Bosnia in the 1990s.

In Serbia, Stanisic and Simatovic retain considerable influence among the police and military despite their indictments.

Human rights activist Natasa Kandic said their temporary release could intimidate witnesses in ongoing war crimes trials in Serbia, as well as in court proceedings for suspects in the slaying of Serbia’s reformist Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.

Djindjic was gunned down last year allegedly by members of a special police unit formed and commanded by Stanisic and Simatovic in the early 1990s.

Stanisic and Simatovic were arrested days after the March 12 assassination and were initially suspected of involvement in the killing, but no charges were brought against them.

“We have information that the process of intimidation of witnesses already has begun,” said Kandic, director of the Humanitarian Law Fund. “The tribunal has made a huge mistake, it has strengthened the anti-Hague lobby in Serbia.”

Earlier today, several Serbian human rights groups urged the government to arrest and extradite the more than dozen other war crimes suspects sought by the UN tribunal.

A few dozen activists gathered at a peaceful rally in central Belgrade under the slogan Hand them Over. They held banners reading All Crimes Must Be Punished and War Criminals To The Hague.

Serbia faces possible international isolation because of the reluctance of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and other leaders to arrest and extradite war crimes suspects.

Citing concerns for the stability of the volatile Balkan republic, Kostunica has stalled on ordering extraditions. He faces mounting criticism at home and abroad over his policies.

Topping the list of fugitives are former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic and four Serb army and police generals wanted in connection with atrocities committed during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo.