Lawyers appointed by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague to act for former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic will ensure he gets a fair trial even though he has rejected their help, according to one of the team.
Belgrade lawyer Branislav Tapuskovic, one of three friends of court picked by the Tribunal to protect Milosevic's legal interests, was quoted on today as saying his refusal to talk to them was regrettable but not a major obstacle.
"It would be better for Milosevic to cooperate with us, but communication was not a condition for my colleagues and me to do our job, which will not harm Milosevic," Mr Tapuskovic told the Gradjanski List newspaper.
The Tribunal also appointed Briton Steven Kay and Dutch advocate Mischa Wladimiroff to defend Milosevic. Mr Tapuskovic said he planned to meet Wladimiroff in Belgrade tomorrow to discuss how they could best carry out their task.
Mr Milosevic is accused of crimes against humanity for atrocities committed against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and is set to face a charge of genocide in the 1992-95 Bosnia war.
He has refused to recognise the Tribunal or to appoint a defence team. A statement issued by his own attorneys called the court-appointed lawyers accomplices in a staged trial based on sheer force and not on the law.
Mr Tapuskovic, the head of the Serbian Lawyers' Association, Mr said Milosevic's reaction was not unexpected.