Milan Milutinović

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Milan Milutinović (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Милутиновић), born 19 December 1942 in Belgrade, is a former President of Serbia. He served as an ambassador in the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia, the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs (1995 - 1998) and as President of Serbia from 1998 until 2002. He was a political ally of Slobodan Milošević. After his five year term as president expired in December 2002 he surrendered to the ICTY and has been released in April 2005, still pending the trial.

1 Elections
2 Presidency
3 ICTY Indictment
4 External links

[edit] Elections

After Slobodan Milošević's second, the last allowable, mandate as the President of Serbia, he was controversially elected the president of Yugoslavia. Milošević's Socialist Party of Serbia still wanted to retain the Serbian presidency, and their first candidate in the Serbian presidential elections in 1997 was Zoran Lilić. The first two rounds of elections failed as the necessary majority of population failed to vote.

A coalition of Socialist Party of Serbia, Yugoslav Left and New Democracy decided to change their candidate for the repeated elections, as Vojislav Šešelj won the plurality against Lilić. Many of the opposition parties, led by the Democratic Party, boycotted 1997 elections as they expected results manipulation.

Milutinović, a member of Socialist Party of Serbia, was the party's choice after Lilić's failure. Milutinović was not well known in the public as he served as an Ambassador to Greece for a long time, but in the second round of repeated elections, held in December 1997, he won 59.23% by official count, while 50.98% voters turned out. Parties which boycotted the elections, as well as Vojislav Šešelj, who got 37.57%, still alleged manipulation of the election results.

[edit] Presidency

As Milošević became the President of the Yugoslav Federation, political power shifted to the federal level along with him, and Milutinović de facto enjoyed little political influence.

However, Milutinović was the leader of the Yugoslavian government's negotiation group in Rambouillet in 1999, a prelude to the NATO campaign against Yugoslavia. He still acted under Milošević's directives.

After Milošević and his party were ousted in 2000 and their political power marginalized on federal, republic and most local levels, Milutinović still remained in the office, as his term did not end until 2002. His powers as the president were trivialized from 2000 to 2002, since his political affiliation did not enjoy popular support and he could not be backed up by any other government branch. Milutinović was out of the eye of public performing only the most basic constitutional obligations without any opposition to Democratic Opposition of Serbia coalition.

In 2002, when his mandate expired, the presidential elections were held in which Milutinović did not run. He was succeeded by an acting president Nataša Mićić.

[edit] ICTY Indictment

Milutinović turned in to International Crime Tribunal for former Yugoslavia in 2003. He is tried under joint war crimes indictment along with Nikola Šainović and Dragoljub Ojdanić.

Milutinović is prosecuted on four counts: deportation, murder as a crime against humanity, murder as violation of laws or customs of war and "other inhumane acts" during the War in Kosovo. The allegations include responsibility for mass murders at Račak, Bela Crkva, Mala Kruša and Velika Kruša, Đakovica, Padalište, Izbica, Vucitrn, Meja, Dubrava, Suva Reka and Kačanik, during 1999.

According to the indictment, Milutinović had personal responsibility as the President of Serbia, with power over various governmental institutions. He was a member of the Yugoslavian Supreme Defense Council, thus making decisions in regard to the Yugoslavian Army. He also had a power to dissolve the Serbian Parliament. During war time, his de jure powers were extended to ones belonging to the Parliament during peace time, including control of the police, subordinate to the Army at the time.

ICTY also claims that Milutinović, as the President of Serbia, had de facto influence over the Parliament, the Army and the police (Ministry of Internal Affairs).

Milutinović was provisionally released in April 2005, still pending the trial.