HAGUE (voa) – The trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic moves into its second day Wednesday with prosecutors at the U.N. war crimes tribunal at The Hague continuing to outline their case.
On Tuesday prosecutors told the court Mr. Milosevic was a power-hungry mass-murderer who caused unspeakable suffering in the Balkans conflicts of the 1990s.
Mr. Milosevic faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. He is accused of responsibility for the massacres of thousands of non-Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo. Prosecutors say more than one million non-ethnic Serbs were also jailed or forced from their homes under his rule.
After the prosecution completes its opening statements today, Mr. Milosevic is expected to respond. He has refused to recognize the legality of the tribunal or the charges against him and plans to defend himself. However, legal advisers say Mr. Milosevic may call present and former world leaders to testify that they once considered him a peacemaker in the Balkans.
If convicted, the former Yugoslav president faces life in prison. Mr. Milosevic is the first former European leader to be called to justice before an international tribunal. His prosecution is the most prominent in international law since a military tribunal tried the Nazi leaders after World War II.
