By Alexia Saoulli
THE WAR crimes tribunal in The Hague yesterday refused to comment on reports that Cypriots might be called to testify against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who faces charges of genocide.
Florence Hartman, spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Tribunal, was unable to confirm or deny reports that Cypriots had been subpoenaed to testify in the case against Milosevic.
A report in yesterday’s Alithia said Attorney-general, Alecos Markides would in the coming days receive subpoenas for Cypriots from the office of tribunal prosecutor Carla Del Ponte.
However, Markides told the Cyprus Mailthat he was completely ” unaware of anything concerning the matter” .
According to Alithia , the Cypriots allegedly helped associates of Milosevic set up offshore companies in Cyprus, which were then used to launder money. This money, according to the indictment, was then used by Milosevic to arm Serbian forces in the war in Bosnia.
The witnesses would be called before the tribunal to explain how offshore companies were created, and how the former Yugoslav administration was able to move money abroad, the report said.
Hartman was, however, unwilling to confirm the reports.
” This sort of information is not released to the press until the actual day of the case,”she told the Cyprus Mailfrom The Hague.
Hartman said that witnesses’ names were only revealed in court and that interviews carried out in the course of an investigation were ” not a matter for the press” .
” We will not confirm or deny anything and do not comment on rumours, allegations or speculation as to who will be called in to testify or who has been interviewed.
” The trials are public, and most witnesses testify in open session, which are accessible to the public and press.”
She said co-operation from the Cyprus authorities in gathering information and evidence in the Milosevic case was ” OK” , but would not comment on whether or not investigations were still being carried out on the island, and what case files were being examined.
Whether any of the information gathered in Cyprus would be used in the proceedings against Milosevic was classified information, Hartman said.
She said the Belgrade State Prosecutor was working on the financial side of the case and that charges of corruption during Milosevic’s reign in Yugoslavia would be dealt with separately there.
” One aspect of the financial investigation will be used in the Milosevic case, because it helps clarify his support of various forces and the influence he had over the Bosnian Serbs. Mostly though, all financial evidence and documents have has been deferred to the local prosecutor in Belgrade, who is building an abuse and corruption case against Milosevic during his 13-year leadership.”
Financial corruption is not the tribunal’s mandate, except when it is linked to the violation of international humanitarian law, Hartman added.
The Central Bank was not aware of the reports that Cypriots had been called to testify.
Del Ponte visited Cyprus over a year ago and collected information on Yugoslav offshore companies in connection with the financial aspect of the case.
The Manager of the International Banking and Financial Services Supervisory Department at the Central Bank, Spyros Stavrinakis, was yesterday unable to say whether the information supplied to Del Ponte had been linked to the war crimes investigation in any way, or if it would be used in the Milosevic trial.
