Milosevic trial fails to ignite Balkan press

Croatian papers cover story but make no comment

While the second leg of the trial against former Yugoslav Prime Minister Slobodan Milosevic has caused a furore in much of the western European press, newspapers in Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia seem largely unmoved by events in The Hague.

They limit their coverage of the trial - in which Mr Milosevic is accused of genocide and complicity to genocide - to purely factual reports.

In Croatia Mr Milosevic's trial has hit the headlines, but it is the story of whether General Janko Bobetko should be handed over to the war crimes tribunal which takes centre stage.

War crime extradition

The leading Zagreb-based daily Vjesnik says that Prime Minister Ivica Racan's failure to put on trial Croats suspected of committing war crimes has led the international community to cast doubts on the country's ability to deal with its war crime legacy.

There is no comment, however, on Mr Milosevic's trial and the Croatian press sticks to the facts of yesterday's events in the courtroom.

Many headlines simply cite remarks made by Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice at the trial.

"Nice: Milosevic was behind criminal campaigns on Croatia and Bosnia," reads the headline in Vjesnik.

Likewise, Split newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija has the headline: "Nice: Milosevic responsible for Vukovar, Dubrovnik, Skabrnja...".

Stoney silence

As in Croatia, the Bosnian press is more interested in domestic affairs than Mr Milosevic - despite the fact that this phase of the trial will deal with alleged war crimes in Bosnia.

It is not until page 21 that the Sarajevo-based Dnevni Avaz publishes a brief report on the trial.

In its coverage, the Mostar-based Bosnian Croat paper Dnevni List even highlights the fact that the media interest in this phase of the trial does not match that of the first phase.

However, several papers describe the Bosnian people's reaction to the trial.

Jutarnje Novine of Sarajevo cites Srebrenica mothers expressing satisfaction over the start of the trial.

And Banja Luka-based Nezavisne Novine mentions a protest of Bosnia-Hercegovina refugees in front of the Dutch Congress Centre. They called for the arrest of former leader of the Serb Republic Radovan Karadzic.

In Montenegro too coverage is limited, with only three out of five daily newspapers reporting on the trial.

The pro-independence papers Vijesti and Publika carry no reports about the trial at all.

But the pro-Yugoslav Dan daily covers the story on its front page, under the headline: "I helped Serbs so I am a criminal, the Pope helped Croats and he is a Holy Father."

Daddy's girl

The Serbian press seems more interested in the sentencing of Mr Milosevic's daughter for illegal possession and use of firearms during her father's arrest, than the trial itself.

Milosevic's daughter attracts more attention than her father

But today's editions of Serbia's dailies do carry factual reports about the trial.

Two papers contrast the chief prosecutor's remarks with those of Mr Milosevic.

"Nice-responsible for genocide in Bosnia-Hercegovina; Milosevic: I deserve an award, " is the headline in the Belgrade-based Danas.

And Glas Javnosti reports, "Geoffrey Nice: He is guilty; Milosevic: I am not".

The only comment comes from the Belgrade-based Politika.

Its reporter Zorana Suvakovic noted that Mr Milosevic had requested that a film about the fall of Yugoslavia - "Country everyone could do without" - be featured as a part of his defence.

She added: "After all these unpleasant reminders of those bloody years, one is left with the grim impression that this title sums up best the evil times for which Slobodan Milosevic is in the dock."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.