Case against Milosevic ends early
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Milosevic is defending himself at the trial.
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Prosecutors have abruptly closed their case against Slobodan Milosevic amid concerns over the resignation of the presiding judge and delays caused by the former Yugoslav president's health.
Prosecutors were scheduled to call four more witnesses and submit an unknown number of documents in their remaining sessions. But they submitted a motion Wednesday to end the case immediately, and U.N. judges accepted the request.
Milosevic is on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia at The Hague on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.
His heart troubles, high blood pressure and bouts of fatigue have delayed the trial by 65 days since it began in February 2002, and Milosevic has been ill the last two weeks.
"We don't want any delay in the case. We want the case to be efficient. We have done our best during the case in less than 300 days," prosecution spokeswoman Florence Hartmann said.
Observers say the resignation of the trial's presiding judge, Richard May, for undisclosed health reasons has further complicated proceedings. His resignation was announced Sunday. (Full story)
In their motion, prosecutors said May's resignation "may pose serious difficulties for the overall timetable of the case" and are most likely to delay the start of Milosevic's defense, which had been due to begin in May.
"With these considerations in mind and with concern for the due administration of justice and judicial economy, the prosecutor closes the case by this filing on the basis of all evidence already adduced," the motion said.
Prosecutors had asked to file written evidence instead of calling additional witnesses, but the judges rejected that request.
May's replacement will be appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. That replacement must become familiar with 30,000 pages of court transcripts and 600,000 pages in the prosecution case.
Milosevic, who is conducting his own defense, has the right to contest the appointment of a new judge and could even call for a retrial, but the court will have the final say.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
