Briefly Noted

The 63-year-old former Serbian president - who is facing more than 60 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in three separate indictments relating to the conflicts in Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia - had his hours in court cut in October 2003 on the advice of cardiologists.

In late 2004, the tribunal also tried to impose a lawyer to represent Milosevic in order to reduce his stress levels. However, defence witnesses refused to appear, and the appeals chamber restored his right to defend himself.

In the latest report on Milosevic’s health, ordered by the court, a Dutch cardiologist, Paul van Dijkman, said, “The situation is just about acceptable.” His “urgent advice”, quoted the judge’s decision, is “not to change the regime and not to increase the number of trial hours”.

Milosevic’s high blood pressure and heart condition have caused a series of delays and concerns in this high profile trial, which is now in its fourth year.

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The Serbian government has offered guarantees that Nebojsa Pavkovic, a senior Yugoslav army general will return to The Hague for trial if given provisional release.

The general surrendered to the Hague tribunal in April a year and a half after he was indicted for crimes against Albanian civilians that units subordinate to him committed during the 1999 military campaign in Kosovo.

Pavkovic had repeatedly stated publicly he had no intention of surrendering to the UN court, and declared that to do so would be a cowardly admission of guilt.

During the hearing for provisional release, the prosecutor expressed strong concerns about whether the general would return to face trial. He referred to media reports which suggested that Pavkovic had been paid to turn himself in.

Pavkovic’ arrival in The Hague on April 25 coincided exactly with a deadline laid down by the European Union for the Serbian government to hand him over or give up on talks that could mark the country’s first step towards EU membership.

However, the defence lawyer rejected the media reports, saying that what was important was that Pavkovic surrendered voluntarily.

Pavkovic is charged along with three other top Serbian army and police generals with four counts of crimes against humanity and one count of violating the laws and customs of war during the 1999 campaign to drive thousands of Kosovo Albanians from their homes following the start of NATO air strikes.

Vladimir Lazarevic and Sreten Lukic have already given themselves up, while Vlastimir Djordjevic is on the run, and thought to be hiding in Russia.