Milosevic takes plea to Strasbourg

Milosevic is flanked by police officers as he arrives in court to hear genocide charges

STRASBOURG, France -- Former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic has lodged an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights for immediate release.

It is the latest attempt by Milosevic to have the International War Crimes Tribunal charges against him thrown out.

Milosevic is facing war crimes and genocide charges at The Hague where he has been held awaiting trial since being handed over by Yugoslav authorities in June.

In the latest move he argues that his arrest and detention as well as the proceedings violate the European Convention on Human Rights, the court said on Friday.

He has brought the case against the Dutch state where the tribunal is located.

RESOURCES In-Depth: Case against Milosevic

He has invoked several clauses in the European Convention on Human Rights including the right to liberty and security, freedom of expression and right to a fair trial.

Milosevic has taken his case for immediate release to Strasbourg after losing an earlier appeal in the Dutch courts on August 31.

The Dutch court ruled that the Netherlands had no jurisdiction to decide whether to set him free.

The court said the war crimes tribunal was "an independent and impartial court," and cited rulings on the tribunal's legitimacy by the European Court of Human Rights last year.

The Dutch court said it was up to the tribunal to decide whether the former president's arguments were justified.

Milosevic has repeatedly refused to cooperate with the tribunal, rejecting legal representation and failing to enter any pleas. He has also accused the court of being "illegal."

Strasbourg now has to decide if it can accept the complaint before ruling on any possible merits of the case.

Milosevic faces counts of war crimes at the international tribunal for the murder and persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

The former president is also accused of genocide against Muslims and Croats in Bosnia.