[Nettime-bold] Re: Milosevic Rejects Court Move to Appoint Lawyers

["Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>]

This is just another tactics to create confusion and procrastinate 
the passing of the rightful judgement. So, Milosevic wants to be 
given privilege to share information with ANY legal professional on 
the planet confidentially, while givining NONE of them the power to 
represent him. My first reaction was that the ICTY should just flatly 
reject this nonsensical request. But then, I thought, there is 
nothing he can really accomplish with this tactics to prevent trial 
against him to be held. Let him see as many lawyers as he wish, 
let him talk with all of them confidentially (in his "free" time, of 
course), let him not chose any one of them to represent him, and 
let him stand the trial alone in his box to his peril. But, please, let's 
move on with it.
ivo

Date sent:      	Mon, 19 Nov 2001 19:01:21 -0500
Send reply to:  	International Justice Watch Discussion List
             	<JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU>
From:           	Andras Riedlmayer <riedlmay@FAS.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject:        	Milosevic Rejects Court Move to Appoint Lawyers
To:             	JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU

(cross-posting of comments only permitted)

According to his Belgrade lawyer, Slobodan Milosevic does not want any
special privileges for Ramsey Clark or John Livingston and says he has
no need for court-appointed legal advisers.  What he wants is unfettered
access to as many lawyers as he chooses to see, and he wants them all
to enjoy the privacy of the attorney-client relationship ... without
giving any of them power of attorney.  Presumably he doesn't want the
tribunal to impose any rules on the conduct of said lawyers either.

Since Milosevic doesn't recognize the tribunal, he apparently sees
no reason why he should quietly go along with decisions or conditions
imposed by the tribunal.  Unlike the tribunal, which has to try its
utmost to be seen as acting fairly in this case, Milosevic does not
appear to have any incentive to be reasonable.

Andras Riedlmayer
==========================================================================
Reuters
November 19, 2001

Milosevic Rejects Court Move to Appoint Lawyers

BELGRADE, Nov. 19 (Reuters) - Defiant former Yugoslav president Slobodan
Milosevic has rejected as manipulation a move by the U.N. war crimes court
to name two attorneys he can meet in private, his Belgrade lawyer said
Monday.

   ``Milosevic's stand is that this is a new manipulation by the court.
The court has never asked Milosevic if he wants these two people to be
appointed as his advisers,'' Dragoslav Ognjanovic told a news conference.

   Milosevic feels that appointing only two lawyers with whom he may
have unmonitored meetings in effect restricts the number of people
he can communicate freely with, Ognjanovic said.

   Milosevic, who was spirited out of Belgrade in June to the court's
detention unit in Scheveningen, has refused to appoint defense counsel
because he does not recognize the court but has said he wants to meet
lawyers in private to discuss his case.

   The tribunal has named former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark
and British lawyer John Livingston as advisers who will be allowed
private meetings with Milosevic, indicted for crimes against humanity
in Croatia in 1991-92 and in Kosovo in 1999.

   ``All other persons will not have this privilege. This is not what
he wants,'' said Ognjanovic, who represents Milosevic in a case in
a Belgrade court where he is charged with abuse of power. He talked
with Milosevic by phone over the weekend.

   Clark, a member of an international Milosevic support committee,
has said Milosevic's rights were being violated because his meetings
with lawyers in the detention center were being monitored by U.N. staff.

    Ognjanovic said by appointing Clark and Livingston the court gave
the appearance of responding to Milosevic's requests while in effect
preventing him from seeing lawyers of his choice.

   In September, Milosevic protested when the court appointed three
prominent international lawyers as ``friends of the court'' to assist
in the trial chamber and ensure he has a fair trial. He said he was
being defended against his will.

*******************************

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