(12 Feb 2002)

1. Exterior of tribunal
2. Belgrade lawyer Dragislav Ognjanovic
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dragislav Ognjanovic, Belgrade lawyer:
"I have no strong comment about it. We have to wait and see what they are going to say in the next few hours, but I think it's weak."
(Q: Why do you think it is weak?)
"Because there is no arguments. We are talking all the time only about history without any argument about taking authority, about force or things like that. As a matter of fact we saw these scenes with a million, a million five hundred thousand Serbs, or people, at one place giving him their support. It means that he was legally elected president of that country and I think that it doesn't matter how strong it seems to be that we are going to talk only about individual responsibility. As a matter of fact, we are going to talk about collective responsibility. Thank you."
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Florence Hartman, Spokesperson for Carla del Ponte, UN War Crimes Prosecutor:
"Every detail, everything we are stating today will be proven by evidences and testimony."
7. Hartman and media
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Florence Hartman, Spokesperson for Carla del Ponte, UN War Crimes Prosecutor:
They are under arrest warrant and they must be arrested and Mladic is located, he is in Belgrade under the protection of the army of Yugoslavia and we are calling for the last three months for the authorities in Belgrade to hand him over. We believe that Karadzic is in Republika Srpska and we are sill expecting the local authorities in Banja Luca or the NATO troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina together, or one by one, to arrest them
7. Security , pans to Hartman being interviewed
8. Flag
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Jim Landale ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) Spokesman
"I don't know what was said between Slobodan Milosevic and the amici (curiae, 'friends of the court' lawyers). Up until now they haven't really had any contact, especially when he has been in detention, so we'll have to see whether that develops into a more fully-fledged line of communication."

STORYLINE:

Lawyers and others involved in the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic commented on the first day of the case during the lunchtime recess.

Belgrade lawyer Dragislav Ognjanovic said that he thought the opening comments from the prosecution were "weak", saying that they concentrated on history and not building an argument against Milosevic.

Florence Hartman, spokeswoman for the chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte, said that each detail would be properly substantiated with evidence throughout the trial that is expected to last for two years.

Hartman also used the media attention to call once again for Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic to be brought to the Hague for trial.

The tribunal spokesman Jim Landale confirmed that Milosevic had spoken to at least one of the three amici curiae, the so called "friends of the court", three amici curiae lawyers appointed to ensure Milosevic has a fair trial in the absence of a defence counsel.

Landale said he would wait to see whether the communication between Milosevic and the lawyers develops beyond a complete rejection of the court to a stage where he accepts counsel.

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