Milan Milutinovic

Milan Milutinovic was born on 19 December 1942 in Belgrade in today’s Serbia. He graduated in law from the University of Belgrade. Throughout his political career, Milan Milutinovic held several important positions in the various state functions of the Serbian State and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). He was a delegate to the Assembly of Political and Social Organisations and member of the Commission for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Assembly; he was the Serb Secretary for Education and Science, member of the Executive Council of the Serb Assembly and Director the National Serb Library. Milan Milutinovic held the rank of Ambassador within the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs and was Ambassador of the FRY to Greece. He was appointed Foreign Affairs Minister of the FRY on 15 August 1995. He is a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). On 21 December 1997, he was elected President of Serbia.

The accusation alleged that, following the commencement of a joint criminal enterprise, beginning on or about 1 January 1999 and continuing until 20 June 1999, Slobodan Milosevic, Milan Milutinovic, Nikola Sainovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Vlajko Stojiljkovic (see “related cases”) and others planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in a deliberate and widespread or systematic campaign of terror and violence directed at Kosovo Albanian civilians living in Kosovo in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Forces of the FRY and Serbia, in a deliberate and widespread or systematic manner, forcibly expelled and internally displaced hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians from their homes across the entire province of Kosovo. It is further alleged that forces of the FRY and Serbia committed widespread or systematic acts of brutality and violence and destruction of property against Kosovo Albanian civilians in order to perpetuate a climate of fear, create chaos and a pervading fear for life.

According to the indictment, around 800,000 Albanian civilians from Kosovo were deported from the region. In addition, Serbian forces were also said to have specifically perpetrated massacres in places such as Dakovica, Velika Krusa, Padaliste, Izbica, Vucitrn, the prison compound in Dubrava…

In 1998, and during the entire period covered by the indictment, Milan Milutinovic held the position of President of Serbia to which he had been elected on 21 December 1997. As President of Serbia, he was also Head of State. As such he represented Serbia and was in charge of relations with foreign States and International Organisations. He was a member of the Supreme Defence Council (SDC) of the FRY and was involved in the decisions taken concerning the deployment of the Armed Forces of the FRY (VJ). It was he who organised the preparations for the defence of Serbia. In addition, according to the terms of the FRY Law of Defence, Milan Milutinovic, as a member of the SDC, also held authority over those units of the Serbian Interior Ministry (MUP), responsible for Kosovo-Metohija, which were subordinate to the VJ whenever there was war or risk of imminent war. With the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, he shared the right to request reports from both the Government of Serbia concerning affairs coming under its control and from MUP on its activities and on questions concerning Serbian security.

Lastly, in times of war or whenever there was risk of imminent war, Milan Milutinovic had the power to take measures which in normal times came under the authority of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, and even to pass laws; he could thus reshuffle the Government and its Ministries and restrict certain rights and liberties.

Milan Milutinovic was arrested and transferred to the ICTY on 20 January 2003.