DATE=10/11/00
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-276764
TITLE=MILOSEVIC / WAR CRIMES (L ONLY)
BYLINE=LAUREN COMITEAU
DATELINE=THE HAGUE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Prosecutors at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal say they are prepared to give Yugoslavia's new president time to consolidate power before they seek the extradition of former President Slobodan Milosevic and other Serbian officials who have been indicted for war crimes. Lauren Comiteau reports from The Hague.
TEXT: Patience and persistence. That is how Deputy Prosecutor Graham Blewitt described the tribunal's new wait-and-see approach to getting its number one fugitive, Slobodan Milosevic, to The Hague.
Mr. Blewitt says Yugoslavia's new president, Vojislav Kostunica, has his hands full forming a new government. That will take time, says Mr. Blewitt.
/// BLEWITT ACT 1 ///
We're quite prepared to allow him to do that, provided at the end of the day, it means all indicted accused are going to be surrendered to this tribunal. But that doesn't mean to say we have to wait forever. And we won't wait forever.
/// END ACT ///
That is the message President Kostunica received in a letter from Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte. She has requested a meeting with the new Yugoslav president, but does not expect that to take place until at least the end of this year.
The tribunal indicted Slobodan Milosevic and four of his top aides last year for crimes committed in Kosovo. But President Kostunica has said he will not hand anybody over to what he calls an American-controlled court.
How much of that sentiment is real and how much was simply pre-election politicking is something prosecutors here say they are waiting to find out. In the meantime, they hope a new independent media in Yugoslavia will allow people there to see justice being done in The Hague and recognize the importance of getting all people who have been indicted for war crimes before this court.
Some international leaders have suggested that Mr. Milosevic be tried in Serbia. Graham Blewitt says that is fine as far as domestic charges are concerned.
/// BLEWITT ACT 2 ///
Apart form anything else, it would mean that he's in custody for offenses and I think that's a good position for him to be in. But clearly, in terms of the crimes over which this tribunal has jurisdiction, we would exercise primacy and, ultimately, the sentence he would be serving would be the sentence imposed, if it's imposed, by this tribunal.
/// END ACT ///
How much patience prosecutors here will have is also not known. But while they are waiting for Mr. Milosevic, they are hoping the change in Yugoslavia's government allows them to move ahead on other fronts. Prosecutors want to reopen their office in Belgrade and start interviewing Serb victims of war crimes who they have not yet had access to. (Signed)
NEB/LC/KL/JWH
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