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Tuesday, 11 January, 2005, 13:37 GMT

Marathon Milosevic trial resumes

Slobodan Milosevic The trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has resumed with testimony by a French nurse who worked in Croatia during the Bosnian war.

Mr Milosevic is defending himself before the tribunal in The Hague, where he faces charges of genocide and other crimes against humanity.

Testifying as a defence witness, nurse Eve Crepin spoke of "the suffering of the Serb people" during the war.

Mr Milosevic's health problems have delayed the long-running trial.

He questioned Ms Crepin for two hours on Tuesday about crimes committed by Croats and Bosnian Muslims against Serbs during the 1991-1995 war.

Witness criticised

But Judge Patrick Robinson said her testimony was largely irrelevant because she was "merely giving impressions".

"I hope this is not an example of the way your witnesses will testify. It sounds like a conversation over a cup of tea on the verandah and I don't find it very helpful," he told Mr Milosevic.

The defendant argued that Ms Crepin's information was "not second-hand, but what she saw".

She accused western media and aid organisations of "denying the suffering of the Serb people" which, she said, she witnessed as a nurse working for the United Nations during the war.

Mr Milosevic has called 15 witnesses since his defence began in September.

Like the prosecution, he has 150 days to present his case, The Associated Press reports.

He has refused to accept lawyers appointed by the court to defend him.



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