Ex-Serb president goes on trial

THE HAGUE – Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, a close ally of late Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, went on trial in The Hague yesterday with five others also accused of war crimes in Kosovo in 1999.

Milutinovic, 63, and his co-accused are charged with the persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the forcible deportation of about 800 000 civilians and the murder of hundreds of civilians by Serb forces. “The evidence in this case will show that these six accused …were co-participants with Slobodan Milosevic and other Serbian political, military and police officials in a joint criminal enterprise,” prosecutor Thomas Hannis said in court.The goal was to alter the ethnic balance in Kosovo, which was largely populated by Kosovo-Albanians, to perpetuate Serb control, he added.Milutinovic succeeded Milosevic as president of Serbia in 1997.Milosevic died of a heart attack in a UN cell in The Hague on March 11, just months before a verdict was expected in his marathon war crimes trial.- Nampa-Reuters”The evidence in this case will show that these six accused …were co-participants with Slobodan Milosevic and other Serbian political, military and police officials in a joint criminal enterprise,” prosecutor Thomas Hannis said in court.The goal was to alter the ethnic balance in Kosovo, which was largely populated by Kosovo-Albanians, to perpetuate Serb control, he added.Milutinovic succeeded Milosevic as president of Serbia in 1997.Milosevic died of a heart attack in a UN cell in The Hague on March 11, just months before a verdict was expected in his marathon war crimes trial.- Nampa-Reuters