Duma condemns ICTY's handling of Milosevic's death скачать в хорошем качестве

Duma condemns ICTY's handling of Milosevic's death

(15 Mar 2006) 1. Wide exterior Duma building 2. Russian flag 3. Wide interior Duma chamber 4. Wide of deputies 5. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Duma committee for international affairs: "In our resolution we confirm our negative assessment of The Hague Tribunal's (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) work, which the State Duma has given on many previous occasions. The Tribunal's approach to its work has carried a clearly political rather than judicial character. We should not forget that almost 80 per cent of those convicted or under investigation are Serb nationals." 6. Wide of Kosachev addressing deputies 7. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Duma committee for international affairs: "We declare that the Hague Tribunal, having not justified the lofty mission given to it by the international community, should as soon as possible become the property of history, the same history that has received Slobodan Milosevic with all his achievements and mistakes." 8. Screen showing vote in favour of resolution 9. Wide of deputy Sergei Baburin 10. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Sergei Baburin, deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament: "I very much doubt that she (Mirjana Markovic) will take part (in the funeral). I know that she does not link the funeral of her husband with her presence at the funeral. For her, it is important that her husband returns to the place where he spent his whole life defending the people." 11. Cutaway media in corridor 12. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Gennady Zyuganov, leader of Russian Communist Party: "Those in NATO have received a strong condemnation at today's Duma session and I think that the Russian authorities should send an official delegation to Milosevic's funeral." 13. Wide of deputies talking in chamber STORYLINE: The lower house of the Russian parliament on Wednesday harshly criticised the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), blaming it for Slobodan Milosevic's death and calling for its quick closure. The State Duma voted unanimously to approve a statement that accused the tribunal of being politicised and biased in its inquiries, and said that its failure to provide Milosevic with adequate medical care led to the former Yugoslav president's death on Saturday. The lower house statement read: "Russia had been ready to accept Slobodan Milosevic for treatment and provide the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia with the guarantees of his return to The Hague, but the tribunal had ignored these appeals, undertaking full responsibility for Milosevic's life." It said the tribunal's failure to provide qualified medical care to Milosevic amounted to "flagrant violation of human rights." The statement called for a quick completion of the tribunal's inquiries and said that its "further activities will be unfeasible." The views expressed in the statement were echoed in the Duma by Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Duma committee for international affairs. Milosevic was arrested in 2001 and put on trial in February 2002 on 66 counts for war crimes and genocide in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo during Yugoslavia's violent break-up in the 1990s. He was the first sitting head of state to be indicted for war crimes. He was the sixth war crimes suspect from the Balkans to die at The Hague. A week earlier, convicted former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic, a star prosecution witness against Milosevic, killed himself in the same prison. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...