Slobodan Milosevic Found Dead at Hague

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been found dead in his jail cell at the Hague. He was 64.

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FILED UNDER: Europe, Obituaries
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Dave says:

    Any political lessons that might have been learned by the Serbs or any other would-be ethnic cleansers has been lost. The trial has gone on so long that the world has stopped paying attention.

    The trial was entering its fifth year! The purpose of a trial should be to establish innocence or guilt and to determine a consistent, fair punishment. If you can’t make a decision after four years, you’re just dithering.

    In some circles, there will be a sigh of relief because punishment for Milosevic’s crimes would have been laughably insufficient. There can be only one punishment for genocide (even genocide-lite) and no European was going to pull the required trigger.

    I predict there will be calls by Hagueophiles to continue the trial despite the death of the defendant. They will claim that we need to establish the historical record and underscore the justice of the current political boundaries in the former Yugoslavia. What else are all these lawyers and political administrators supposed to do with their time?

    Of course, the international legal community also wishes to establish a precedent under which they can prosecute their true enemy; the leaders of the United States.

    On the upside, Saddam has been following Milosevic’s defense model pretty closely. Perhaps he will choose to execute a similar endgame.

  2. Herb says:

    Justice has been served.

    Sure, he died of natural causes. By the way, I have this Bridge fro sale!

    The Int’l Court Court in the Hague, What a joke, like the UN, they have proven to be totally useless.

  3. Maggie says:

    The International Court is now OUT OF A JOB…….listen for the rhetoric to pick up about giving Saddam a “FAIR TRIAL” and a “WORLD COURT”.