Milosevic lawyers urge trial postponement for health reasons News
Milosevic lawyers urge trial postponement for health reasons

[JURIST] Lawyers for former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic [ICTY fact sheet] are urging another postponement in his trial for war crimes [JURIST news archive] at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website], which has now spanned four years. After complaining recently of pains in the neck, ears and head, Milosevic was examined by three doctors from France, Russia and Serbia. They found his condition to be ‘unstable’ and recommended complete rest ‘for a minimum of six weeks.’ Milosevic, who despite having his own Serbian legal advisors as well as two British defense counsel who have been assigned to him is acting as his own lawyer before the ICTY, has already missed 70 days in court, and his trial was previously delayed when the presiding judge, Richard May, died of a brain tumor last year. While ICTY rules do not prohibit a trial in absentia, defense witnesses have refused to appear on past occasions when Milosevic has been absent due to illness. The New York Times has more.