Milosevic contests use of recording
( 2002-10-01 11:25 ) (7 )

Slobodan Milosevic contested the use of a recorded telephone conversation at his war crimes trial Monday, claiming it was obtained illegally.

Defending himself at his genocide trial in connection with wars in Croatia and Bosnia, the former president argued that a secret recording introduced by prosecutors last week was recorded "without permission from the authorities."

The recording of a conversation between leading Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic and a witness in Milosevic's trial at the Yugoslav tribunal was aired in court during a closed session Friday.

Prosecutors plan to use dozens of similar recordings and radio intercepts in the coming months and the panel of three UN judges called for a separate hearing to consider their admissibility.

Prosecutors have run into trouble using similar evidence, including during the trial of Bosnian Serb Gen. Radislav Krstic, who was convicted of genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica massacres in the Bosnian enclave.

Milosevic raised the objection during the testimony of a protected witness, a former moderate Serb politician identified as C-037, who was asked about a telephone conversation the witness had with Karadzic.

The contents of the recording, made by the Muslim-led Bosnian secret service and provided to the UN tribunal, were not made public.

"My objection here is one of principle, although I am not at all interested in the tape's content ... or whether it is authentic," Milosevic said.

Milosevic faces a total of 66 counts of war crimes during the break up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, 61 of them for the wars in Croatia and Bosnia for which he is charged with genocide.

The second part of Milosevic's landmark trial, dealing with the 1991-1995 Balkan conflicts, began Thursday. The first stage on the 1998-1999 Serb crackdown on Albanians in Kosovo ended Sept. 11.

Witness C-037 described the rise of ethnic tension in the region of Krajina in Croatia, where the dominant Serb population rebelled against Croatia's 1991 declaration of independence and proclaimed their own rule.

The rebellion was bankrolled by Belgrade and Milosevic's regime, the witness said.

The prosecution maintains that Milosevic advocated a policy of "ethnic cleansing," to bring Serbs across the former Yugoslavia together in a single nation.