The Hague
The judge presiding over the trial of Slobodan Milosevic announced this week that he would resign at the end of May, just as the former Yugoslav dictator was scheduled to begin defense arguments. Judge Richard May, a Briton, said he was stepping down due to poor health. The move could derail the trial. Milosevic, whose own ill health has caused many delays, has the right to ask the court to restart the trial from the beginning—and if the request is denied, he’ll have grounds for appeal. In any event, whoever takes May’s place on the three-judge panel hearing the case will have to wade through thousands of pages of documents from nearly 300 prosecution witnesses, a task that could take months. Milosevic is charged with ordering civilian massacres and other crimes against humanity during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
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