Brussels - Lawyers acting for the former Yugoslav president, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, began a legal challenge against the Hague war crimes tribunal in a Dutch court yesterday, arguing that he had been kidnapped and was being illegally detained in the Netherlands. Observers believe the challenge has little chance of success.
The four Dutch lawyers told a district court judge in the Hague that the tribunal was nothing but "a marionette court" of the Nato alliance, and demanded Mr Milosevic's immediate release. They argued that the Dutch state shared responsibility for kid napping Mr Milosevic and had the right to ensure that human rights were upheld on its territory.