UN tribunal prepares for Milosevic pre-trial hearing for Kosovo case

The United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia will hold a hearing tomorrow for former President Slobodan Milosevic to consider his trial on charges stemming from the 1999 Kosovo conflict.

Among measures that are likely to be raised by the Prosecutor during tomorrow's hearing at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague are the number of witnesses that are to be called and the number of statements and transcripts that are to be admitted.

Mr. Milosevic’s trial is scheduled to begin on 12 February. In December, the Prosecutor had sought unsuccessfully to have the Kosovo indictment combined into one trial with the other cases against the former President for alleged crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

The Court agreed only to join the Bosnia and Croatia cases. A start date for that trial has not been set.