A detention order against former Yugoslav president Mr Slobodan Milosevic was extended for two months today, a Belgrade district court has said in a statement.
The court decided to extend the investigative custody for an additional two months to allow investigators to probe the former hardline leader on suspicion of abuse of power and corruption.
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The official statement said the "detention could be revoked upon a further decision by the court."
Mr Milosevic's lawyer Mr Toma Fila said the decision was expected and had been made to prevent Mr Milosevic fleeing the country or influencing witnesses.
Mr Fila told AFPthe custody has been extended "because in the case of his (Mr Milosevic's) release, his supporters might organise his escape."
Mr Milosevic "could also influence witnesses" during the investigation, Mr Fila said, adding that about a dozen of them were scheduled to give their testimonies to the investigating magistrate.
Mr Fila said he would appeal the court's decision, but warned he was "not optimistic" about the chances of his client leaving Belgrade's central jail.
Upon his April 1 arrest, Mr Milosevic was placed in initial investigative custody for one month.
His appeal against the detention period, in which he claimed that the millions of dollars he was accused of stealing went not to him but to aid Serb forces in the wars in Bosnia and Croatia, was rejected by a judicial panel.
In an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde, chief war crimes prosecutor Ms Carla del Ponte reiterated her call for an immediate transfer of Mr Milosevic to The Hague to face war crimes charges before the UN tribunal.
"We demand the immediate transfer of the indictee Milosevic and that of other indictees," said Ms Del Ponte in the interview.
Mr Milosevic was indicted for ordering a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999, in which hundreds of thousands were driven out of their homes.
Yugoslav President Mr Vojislav Kostunica has argued that Mr Milosevic must face a domestic court first and claims that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia lacks impartiality.
AFP