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Milosevic said to be defended against his will
( 2001-09-11 10:45 ) (7 )

Lawyers named by the UN war crimes court to act for Slobodan Milosevic will in fact be defending him against his will, members of a committee seeking the release of the former Yugoslav leader said on Monday.

The Dutch-based UN tribunal said on Thursday it was appointing three lawyers as "amici curiae" -- "friends of the court" meant to ensure the defendant gets a fair trial.

Milosevic, who does not recognise the court and has refused to name any defence attorneys, last week said via his Belgrade lawyers he would have no contact with the "pseudo-defenders".

The UN court has said they would "not represent the accused but assist in the proper determination of the case".

But Yugoslav members of a support committee for Milosevic said the appointed team had been assigned tasks such as making submissions to the court and cross-examining witnesses which exceeded usual powers of "friends of the court".

"In this way defence lawyers are appointed to him under the guise of 'friends of the court' and he is prevented from speaking in his own name," said Momo Raicevic, lawyer and member of the committee named "Freedom".

"They want to create the impression in public that Milosevic has lawyers and that they can defend him in a just and in the best possible way but they are forgetting that he has not chosen these lawyers," he told reporters.

Milosevic, who was transferred to the UN court in late June, is accused of crimes against humanity for atrocities committed in Kosovo and is also set to face a genocide charge for crimes from the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Assistant law professor Branko Rakic, another member of the pro-Milosevic committee, said the appointment of "friends of the court" was an attempt by the UN court to present the trial against him as fair.

"His refusal to participate in this show makes the whole procedure impaired and they are seeking ways to make up for this, to secure the defence side," he said.

Milosevic, a law graduate, has branded the tribunal an illegal, political court.

Branislav Tapuskovic, head of the Serbian Lawyers' Association and appointed as one of the three "friends of the court", said at the weekend the team would ensure Milosevic gets a fair trial even though he has rejected their help.

The other two appointed lawyers are Briton Steven Kay and Dutch advocate Mischa Wladimiroff.