Word: strongmanism
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...would condemn NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia. President Vojislav Kostunica, for example, makes no secret of the fact that he believes the tribunal is biased against Serbs, and had insisted that Milosevic be first processed by the Yugoslav judiciary before being extradited. It is these sentiments that the former strongman was trying to tap when he appeared in court Tuesday, suggesting that the trial may yet become a rallying point for nationalist Serbs and cause political problems at home for the post-Milosevic leadership...
Even in the dock, Slobodan Milosevic is going to be a headache for world leaders. The deposed Serb strongman marked his first appearance before an international tribunal in The Hague - and the first-ever international indictment for war crimes of a former head of state - with predictable defiance. He snarled at the judge and challenged the right of the U.N.-mandated court to try him, insisting that the proceedings were simply a propaganda exercise to rationalize what he termed "war crimes" by NATO against Yugoslavia. Of course, such blather was never going to shake the conviction of the international community...
...then, as if the week's international events had been to emphasize the importance of the U.N., Serbia on Thursday delivered its former strongman Slobodan Milosevic to The Hague, where he will stand trial for war crimes in a court constituted under U.N. auspices...
...Authorities appeared set to delay the process by allowing a Federal appeals court - whose judges had been Milosevic appointees, and had voted to annul last year's election result precipitating the insurrection that drove him from office - to challenge the validity of last weekend's government decree facilitating the strongman's extradition. But when the Federal court said no, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic - Kostunica's arch-rival and an enthusiastic advocate of a Hague trial for Milosevic - convened an emergency cabinet meeting. Less than five hours later, the man who had presided over a series of bloody tribal wars...
...Kostunica's prevarication had been partly based on his hope of winning over residual Milosevic supporters for his eventual election showdown with Djindjic. But by the time a little black van drove inconspicuously away from the Central Prison bearing the former strongman to face his accusers, the number of Serbs opposed to that outcome was surprisingly small. Their decision to extradite may have been driven by an overriding concern with their country's desperate financial plight, but Belgrade's post-Milosevic leadership has done a remarkable job over the past year in swaying Serbian public opinion solidly behind his extradition...