Monday, Dec. 25, 2006
Slobodan Milosevic
For me as prosecutor, Milosevic was one of the most responsible and most senior accused to face trial in the Hague. This highly complex trial had specific importance for the future of international criminal justice. Therefore his death before the judgment was a major blow for my office, for all the victims affected by the crimes for which he was charged, and for the efforts invested in our fight against impunity. We were so near the end — I was stupefied. We lost the chance to create the global picture of what really happened in Yugoslavia.
Del Ponte is the chief U.N. war-crimes prosecutor who sought to bring the former Yugoslav strongman to justice