UN prosecutors have applied to reopen their case against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to present new evidence including a shocking video of the murder of six Muslims, the Hague tribunal said on today.
Prosecutors wrapped up their case in February 2004 after calling about 290 witnesses over two years.
Mr Milosevic launched his defence last August but his poor health has repeatedly delayed the trial, now expected to last well into 2006.
Mr Milosevic is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo during the bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Chief UN prosecutor Carla del Ponte said in written application to the three judges trying Mr Milosevic she wanted to reopen the Bosnia and Kosovo parts of the prosecution case to present 49 extra documents and question six new witnesses.
"The reopening of the prosecution's case-in-chief would provide relevant and probative evidence concerning the criminal responsibility of the accused," she said.
The prosecution could present the evidence before Mr Milosevic completes the Kosovo phase of his defense and it should only add an extra six hearing days to the trial, she said.
Included in new evidence the prosecution wants admitted is a video that shows members of the Scorpions, a Serb paramilitary group, murdering six Muslim men from Srebrenica in 1995.
The graphic film shocked the Serbian public after it was shown by the prosecution during the cross-questioning of a defence witness for Mr Milosevic last month and then broadcast on national television. But it can only be formally admitted as evidence against Mr Milosevic if the prosecution case is reopened.
Ms Del Ponte wants to call several witnesses who can explain and authenticate the tape, including Slobodan Stojkovic, the Scorpion unit member who filmed the video.
"The exclusion of material such as the Scorpions videotape … could potentially lead to a miscarriage of justice and result in a distorted verdict that would not stand the test of history," she said.