Judges in the war crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic today denied the ex-Yugoslav president's request that he be released provisionally to better prepare his defense.
Milosevic last week asked to be temporarily released, arguing he had been deprived of adequate resources to defend himself against charges of genocide and war crimes in the Balkans.
But presiding Judge Richard May ruled today that his rights "can be safeguarded by means other than provisional release."
The court said it recognised the difficulties Milosevic may face in the preparation of his defense in the landmark trial, now in its 15th day before the UN tribunal here.
But Judge May said the judges were not satisfied the former president "would continue to appear for trial and will not pose a danger to victims and witnesses." A written decision was to be issued later, he said.
While Milosevic portrays himself as a lone victim fighting against a UN tribunal he considers illegal, he does have an active team of advisers that feed him documents, information and arguments to use in court.
The trial resumed after it was suspended yesterday due to a small fire in The Hague court's cafeteria. The court heard testimony from two Albanians who recounted killings and deportations by Serb forces in Kosovo.
Milosevic cross-examined Qamil Shabani, a teacher from the southern Kosovo village of Zegra who had testified how Serb violence forced him to flee into neighbouring Macedonia with thousands of other refugees in 1999.
The one-time Serbian strongman denied engineering mass deportations and dismissed Shabani's testimony as mere second-hand accounts.
"We've already heard this pattern," he complained, "It's getting boring and it's hearsay anyway."
Milosevic seized upon a statement by the witness that small groups of Kosovars, terrorized by the violence, left by themselves for Macedonia and avoided running into Serbs.
"They are even trying not to be seen by those that are allegedly deporting them," Milosevic said. "It's a striking example, to the contrary, that there was no deportation."
Milosevic also marked a first for him at the trial he once threatened to shun. He read aloud from a pre-trial statement prepared by the witness; previously he refused to touch all court documents.
The first former head of state to face an international tribunal, Milosevic is charged with organizing the deportation of some 800,000 ethnic Albanians from the Serbian province of Kosovo and the deaths of at least 900.
AFP