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Milosevic witnesses threatened
28/02/2002 07:19 - (SA)
The Hague - Witnesses in the politically charged war crimes trial of former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic are still facing pressure and
threats, officials here said on Wednesday.
"We have public threats against people testifying against him
(Milosevic)," said Florence Hartmann, spokeperson for the
prosecutors trying the ex-Yugoslav president before a UN tribunal
here.
She said earlier threats were issued openly by members of the
former Yugoslav president's Socialist Party in Belgrade. "I can't
speak publicly about other kinds of threats," she told reporters.
"There is really pressure" on the witnesses, Hartmann said
outside the courtroom where Milosevic is facing charges of
genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from the Balkans conflicts in the 1990s.
Milosevic's supporters have already warned that anyone who
agrees to testify against him "will be considered a traitor to
Serbia".
The court has granted protected-witness status to 29 people
called to testify against Milosevic about his alleged role in
the persecution of ethnic Albanians in the Serbian province of
Kosovo.
UN tribunal cannot protect them
The protections range from keeping their names secret until they
appear, to shielding their identities altogether and relocating
them.
Wendy Lobwein, who works in the victims and witnesses section of the UN tribunal said they had received reports of "harassment,
intimidation and anonymous phone calls" in many cases.
Lobwein said such threats are "like being held at gunpoint"
for people who have already gone through the hell of the Balkans
bloodshed. "They can't understand why the police won't help them,"
she said.
Relocation is only a small part of the witness support programme
and is used only in extreme cases, Lowbein said. Otherwise, the
court has to rely on the witnesses' home governments to protect
them since it has no force of its own.
"We have to deal with the fears and threats and reach an
understanding with the witness about how great our powers are," she
said. - Sapa-AFP
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