Associated Press
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The U.N. war crimes tribunal is allowing a former U.S. attorney general to be a legal adviser to former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
The tribunal said Ramsey Clark, attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson, and British attorney John Livingston will be granted full privileges of defense counsel to meet and advise Milosevic, who is awaiting trial on war crimes charges in Kosovo and Croatia.
The decision, adopted Thursday, means Milosevic will be able to hold unmonitored conversations with the two lawyers, and that the tribunal cannot refuse to let them meet "without reasonable grounds."
Milosevic has refused to appoint an attorney to represent him in hearings before the tribunal, saying he considers the court illegal and doesn’t recognize its right to try him.
The appointment of the two legal advisers followed a request from Milosevic "to meet with them," the tribunal said.
Clark, who has taken part in rallies in support of Milosevic, has also represented a former Rwandan pastor charged with five counts of genocide, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity.
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