Belarus parliament blames Hague tribunal for Milosevic's death
BBC Monitoring Kiev Unit - April 3, 2006, Monday

Excerpt from report by Belarusian news agency Belapan

Minsk, 3 April: The Belarusian National Assembly's House of Representatives [parliament's lower house] adopted a statement on the death of the former Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, on 3 April.

Presenting the draft statement, the chairman of the Standing Commission for International Affairs and CIS Relations, Vadzim Papow, said that Milosevic's death on 11 March 2006 "attracted the attention of the international community" and caused "critical assessments of the activities by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [ICTFY]".

The statement by the House of Representatives reads that the international community has repeatedly drawn the ICTFY's attention to the fact that Milosevic was suffering from a coronary heart disease and hypertension and needed specialized cardiological treatment. However, in January 2006, he was denied the right to go to Moscow for treatment despite the fact that the Russian government guaranteed his personal security and his return to the Hague. "This refusal can be viewed only as an inhumane and harsh act which led to the tragic result," the statement reads. (\…) [agency ellipsis] "Today, the ICTFY is trying to disclaim responsibility for the former Yugoslav leader's death and speaks about 'care of the accused individuals'. However, Milosevic is not the only victim of the Hague tribunal. Serbs account for the majority of those who died or committed suicide in connection with the legal proceedings that were considered by the tribunal. It is evident that the ICTFY cannot guarantee life security for the people standing trial."

Belarusian MPs described the Hague tribunal as "a politicized body, for which double standards and bias are typical when rendering decisions". "The tribunal acts in the interests of those who conducted the Balkan operation. The purpose of its existence is clear - to justify NATO's confrontation in the region and shift responsibility for what happened on the territory of former Yugoslavia to Milosevic and other former leaders of the country," the statement says. (\…) [agency ellipsis] "Former Yugoslavia was used to test and fine-tune a methodology for breaking up multinational states."

The MPs also deem the existence of the Hague tribunal inexpedient and demand that the ICTFY be disbanded and all the cases being considered by it be transferred to national judicial authorities.

The MPs also expressed their "feeling of solidarity and support for the Serbian people's effort to preserve integrity of their country".

Source: Belapan news agency, Minsk, in Russian 1240 gmt 3 Apr 06

Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation
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