[JURIST Europe] Two British court-appointed lawyers assisting former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] have submitted a motion to subpoena former US president Bill Clinton [official profile] to testify at Milosevic's trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website]. Milosevic is asking for Clinton's testimony asserting he was privy to vital information about the Balkan wars and that he had ordered the 1999 bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade [BBC report].

Previous motions to subpoena British Prime Minister Tony Blair [official profile] and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder [BBC profile] were rejected by the tribunal [JURIST report] in December. Milosevic is defending himself against 66 counts [BBC backgrounder] of crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, violations against customs of war, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions [ICRC backgrounder]. The trial has now entered its fifth year [JURIST report] and is expected to conclude in upcoming months. Reuters has more.

Angela Onikepe is an Associate Editor for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. She is based in the UK.