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Tuesday, September 19 9:32 PM SGT

Trial of NATO leaders for war crimes continues in Belgrade court

BELGRADE, Sept 19 (AFP) -
The prosecution on Tuesday resumed the presentation of its case in the trial in
absentia of 14 NATO leaders for war crimes committed during last year's
bombardment of Yugoslavia.

US President Bill Clinton, French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime
Minister Tony Blair are among the accused.

The 14 are charged with "inciting an aggressive war, war crimes against the
civilian population, use of banned combat means, attempted murder of the
Yugoslav president (Slobodan Milosevic), as well as with the violation of the
country's territorial integrity," the indictment said.

The prosecution showed video images of NATO attacks on Serbian targets, among
them civilian houses, bridges and factories, as court officials read aloud
witnesses' statements, forensic and police reports.

Some witness statements came from survivors of the bombing attacks.

But Zanka Stojakovic, mother of one of 16 employees killed in an attack on the
state television building in Belgrade, said in a written statement that the
trial "is a farce," saying that Yugoslav officials should also be tried.

Presiding judge Veroljub Rakitic said at the start of the trial Monday that the
accused had all been sent a list of the translated charges through diplomatic
channels and would be represented by 14 court-appointed lawyers.

Fourteen empty chairs, bearing the names of the accused -- including US
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and
other US, European and NATO officials -- were placed in front of Rakitic's
podium.

It took three hours for Belgrade prosecutor Andrija Milutinovic to read the
183-page indictment against the leaders, followed by the names of 890 alleged
victims of NATO bombings -- 503 civilians, 240 soldiers and 147 Serb policemen.

If found guilty, the court could impose prison sentences of between 15 and 20
years.

The start of the trial comes just six days ahead of the first round of
presidential and legislative elections in the Yugoslav federation, and was
attended by Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic.

Yugoslavia, backed by human rights organizations and Russian deputies, has
regularly accused NATO of committing war crimes by targeting civilians during
the bombing campaign.

But Carla Del Ponte, chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in June exonerated NATO, saying the
organization had not violated any international laws with its campaign.

The ICTY has indicted Milosevic for war crimes in Kosovo.



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