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Yugoslavia Moves to Hand Over Milosevic to The Hague
The Yugoslav government Sunday took the first legal step required to hand over the former president Slobodan Milosevic to the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, the Tanjug news agency reported, citing a statement from the government of Serbia, the main Yugoslav republic.
Yugoslav Justice Minister Momcilo Grubac presented the Belgrade District Court with a request from the U.N. tribunal to transfer the former leader.
Then, the Serbian government declared after a meeting the start of its cooperation with the tribunal in accordance with a decree issued by the federal government Saturday.
The decree, which came into force Sunday, sets out legal procedures for the handover of indictees.
Milosevic, who has been jailed since April 1 on domestic charges of corruption and abuse of power, categorically expressed its defiance Sunday, saying the government decree violated the country's constitution.
Toma Fila, a lawyer for the former president, was quoted Monday as saying that the lawyers would submit a written application to the court asking it to take measures to prohibit the government from implementing the decree.
Yugoslavia has been under intense Western pressure, particularly from the United States, to agree to hand over Milosevic to The Hague before an international donors' conference scheduled for June 29.
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