War crimes defendant Slobodan Milosevic was prepared for his showdown Tuesday at the UN war crimes court.
So was presiding Judge Richard May, who dispensed with the three tasks before him in the space of 10 minutes, playing by the book.
"I see that you are not represented by counsel," the judge said, peering over his glasses, before asking the defendant to confirm that he wished to waive this right.
"I consider this tribunal false tribunal, and indictments false indictments," a gruff Milosevic said in English. "It is illegal, being not appointed by the UN General Assembly, so I have no need to appoint counsel to an illegal organ."
May's next task was to ask the defendant whether he wished to have the charges -- of crimes against humanity during the Serbian crackdown that displaced hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians -- read out to him.
"That's your problem," Milosevic said, which Judge May took to be a "no."
Carrying on, the grandfatherly judge asked the accused whether he wanted to enter a plea, and Milosevic replied: "I have answered."
Concluding that the defendant thereby refused to enter a plea, Judge May applied the rule of the tribunal -- entering an automatic plea of not guilty on all counts -- and swiftly adjourned the hearing, scheduling a status conference for the week of August 27.
As the defendant -- standing tall in his dark blue suit and sporting a tie with the Yugoslav national colors -- was being escorted out of the courtroom, he looked at his watch -- THE HAGUE (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
