UN war crimes tribunal restricts Milosevic's phone communications

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Serbian politician Vojislav Seselj, standing trial before the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, can no longer use telephones or personal visits to contact the media because they are candidates in Serbia's parliamentary elections this month.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) disclosed its decisions today on the communications rights of its detainees, saying they can only communicate with their family, legal counsel and diplomatic or consular official.

The Tribunal's deputy registrar deemed that the use of its communications facilities by people seeking to participate in the elections on 28 December could frustrate the Tribunal's mandate, ICTY said in a statement.

Both Mr. Milosevic and Mr. Seselj have been indicted on charges of crimes against humanity and other crimes for their roles in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, which saw the worst killings in Europe since World War II. Mr. Milosevic has also been indicted for his actions in Kosovo.