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Source: Human Rights Watch
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(New York, December 14, 2006) ? The trial of Slobodan Milosevic, which ended with his death before a verdict could be rendered, has provided important evidence about the role of Belgrade in pursuing the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. "Although Milosevic was never convicted, evidence exposed at his trial showed how Belgrade orchestrated the vicious wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo," said Sara Darehshori, senior counsel in the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. "The Milosevic trial also shows how to manage ? or not ? future prosecutions of high-ranking officials for crimes of huge magnitude."
The 76-page report, "Weighing the Evidence: Lessons of the Slobodan Milosevic Trial," examines key evidence introduced at trial, the most comprehensive account to date of the conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. The report finds that the trial revealed how leaders in Belgrade and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia financed the wars; how they provided material to Croatian and Bosnian Serbs; and how they created administrative and personnel structures to support the Croatian Serb and Bosnian Serb armies. The report traces the mechanisms, some of which were previously secret, by which Belgrade fueled the conflicts.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/d873fa58ecad6778a58f96b5eade21e8.htm