The first stage of Slobodan Milosevic's landmark war crimes trial came to a close in The Hague today, seven months after prosecutors began calling witnesses to link him to widespread murder of civilians by Serb forces in Kosovo.
Milosevic finished cross-examining the last prosecution witness dealing with Kosovo and hearings were adjourned until September 26.
After a two week break, the second stage of the trial will begin with opening statements on the 61 counts of war crimes, including genocide, that Milosevic faces for the wars in Croatia and Bosnia.
Milosevic complained today about a newspaper article in which one of three lawyers appointed to defend his interests had made "unacceptable" comments about the court proceedings.
Michail Wladimiroff, one of the so-called "friends of the court," apparently told a Dutch paper that prosecutors have already presented enough evidence to convict Milosevic.
"If his trial was only on Kosovo, and you weighed the evidence now, Milosevic would certainly be convicted," he said. "There is a clear link between the police and the army, the massacres in Kosovo, and Milosevic."
Wladimiroff said in court Wednesday he had not authorised the article and didn't recall saying much of its contents.
The quotes were "a misrepresentation of what I have said ... I have certainly not said there is sufficient evidence to convict the accused."
Milosevic said the comments were grounds enough to hold Wladimiroff in contempt. The judges gave the attorney a week to submit a written explanation.
Milosevic will present his own defence when prosecutors finish their cases for all three Balkan wars, probably in the spring of 2003. So far, he has taken up more time than the prosecution, as he extensively cross-examined 124 witnesses and quarrelled with the judges.
The landmark proceedings, considered to be the most important since Nazi leaders went on trial after the Second World War, have been marked with first-hand tales of massacre survivors and politicians who warned Milosevic he would face justice.
One of Milosevic's legal advisers, Zdenko Tomanovic, said prosecutors "are not up to the standard of the case" and have offered no proof of a criminal plan or purpose.
They also failed to substantiate claims "that Milosevic ordered or knew about war crimes," he said.
PA