2002 : Milosevic goes on trial for war crimes
On this day in 2002, former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic goes
on trial at The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of genocide and war
crimes in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. Milosevic served as his own
attorney for much of the prolonged trial, which ended without a
verdict when the so-called "Butcher of the Balkans" was found dead at
age 64 from an apparent heart attack in his prison cell on March 11,
2006.
Yugoslavia, consisting of Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia, became a federal republic, headed by
Communist leader Marshal Tito, on January 31, 1946. Tito died in May
1980 and Yugoslavia, along with communism, crumbled over the next
decade.
Milosevic, born August 20, 1941, joined the Communist Party at age 18;
he became president of Serbia in 1989. On June 25, 1991, Croatia and
Slovenia declared their independence from Yugoslavia and Milosevic
sent tanks to the Slovenian border, sparking a brief war that ended in
Slovenia's secession. In Croatia, fighting broke out between Croats
and ethnic Serbs and Serbia sent weapons and medical supplies to the
Serbian rebels in Croatia. Croatian forces clashed with the Serb-led
Yugoslav army troops and their Serb supporters. An estimated 10,000
people were killed and hundreds of Croatian towns were destroyed
before a U.N. cease-fire was established in January 1992. In March,
Bosnia-Herzegovina declared its independence, and Milosevic funded the
subsequent Bosnian Serb rebellion, starting a war that killed an
estimated 200,000 people, before a U.S.-brokered peace agreement was
reached at Dayton, Ohio, in 1995.
In Kosovo, a formerly autonomous province of Serbia, liberation forces
clashed with Serbs and the Yugoslav army was sent in. Amidst reports
that Milosevic had launched an ethnic cleansing campaign against
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, NATO forces launched air strikes against
Yugoslavia in 1999.
Ineligible to run for a third term as Serbian president, Milosevic had
made himself president of Yugoslavia in 1997. After losing the
presidential election in September 2000, he refused to accept defeat
until mass protests forced him to resign the following month. He was
charged with corruption and abuse of power and finally surrendered to
Serbian authorities on April 1, 2001, after a 26-hour standoff. That
June, he was extradited to the Netherlands and indicted by a United
Nations war crimes tribunal. Milosevic died in his cell of a heart
attack before his trial could be completed.
In February 2003, Serbia and Montenegro became a commonwealth and
officially dropped the name Yugoslavia. In June 2006, the two
countries declared their independence from each other.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
2002 : Milosevic goes on trial for war crimes
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52363
1793 : Congress enacts first fugitive slave law
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4759
1865 : Garnet preaches to House on slavery and Civil War
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4760
1912 : Last emperor of China abdicates
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4761
1986 : Scharansky released
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4762
1999 : President Clinton acquitted
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6805
#########################################
On this day in 2002, former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic goes
on trial at The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of genocide and war
crimes in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. Milosevic served as his own
attorney for much of the prolonged trial, which ended without a
verdict when the so-called "Butcher of the Balkans" was found dead at
age 64 from an apparent heart attack in his prison cell on March 11,
2006.
Yugoslavia, consisting of Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia, became a federal republic, headed by
Communist leader Marshal Tito, on January 31, 1946. Tito died in May
1980 and Yugoslavia, along with communism, crumbled over the next
decade.
Milosevic, born August 20, 1941, joined the Communist Party at age 18;
he became president of Serbia in 1989. On June 25, 1991, Croatia and
Slovenia declared their independence from Yugoslavia and Milosevic
sent tanks to the Slovenian border, sparking a brief war that ended in
Slovenia's secession. In Croatia, fighting broke out between Croats
and ethnic Serbs and Serbia sent weapons and medical supplies to the
Serbian rebels in Croatia. Croatian forces clashed with the Serb-led
Yugoslav army troops and their Serb supporters. An estimated 10,000
people were killed and hundreds of Croatian towns were destroyed
before a U.N. cease-fire was established in January 1992. In March,
Bosnia-Herzegovina declared its independence, and Milosevic funded the
subsequent Bosnian Serb rebellion, starting a war that killed an
estimated 200,000 people, before a U.S.-brokered peace agreement was
reached at Dayton, Ohio, in 1995.
In Kosovo, a formerly autonomous province of Serbia, liberation forces
clashed with Serbs and the Yugoslav army was sent in. Amidst reports
that Milosevic had launched an ethnic cleansing campaign against
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, NATO forces launched air strikes against
Yugoslavia in 1999.
Ineligible to run for a third term as Serbian president, Milosevic had
made himself president of Yugoslavia in 1997. After losing the
presidential election in September 2000, he refused to accept defeat
until mass protests forced him to resign the following month. He was
charged with corruption and abuse of power and finally surrendered to
Serbian authorities on April 1, 2001, after a 26-hour standoff. That
June, he was extradited to the Netherlands and indicted by a United
Nations war crimes tribunal. Milosevic died in his cell of a heart
attack before his trial could be completed.
In February 2003, Serbia and Montenegro became a commonwealth and
officially dropped the name Yugoslavia. In June 2006, the two
countries declared their independence from each other.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
2002 : Milosevic goes on trial for war crimes
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52363
1793 : Congress enacts first fugitive slave law
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4759
1865 : Garnet preaches to House on slavery and Civil War
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4760
1912 : Last emperor of China abdicates
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4761
1986 : Scharansky released
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4762
1999 : President Clinton acquitted
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6805
#########################################
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