Slobodan Milosevic

6 Pages 1516 Words

“The Butcher of the Balkans”
During the morning on the first day in April in 2001, “The Butcher of the Balkans”, Slobodan Milosevic, was arrested at his house, in Belgrade, on international charges of abuse of power, corruption, war crimes, crimes against humanity, deportation, and genocide. On June 28, the Serbian government, who arrested Milosevic, gave him to the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Although the Serbian Government felt Milosevic should be tried at home, they were desperate for the financial aid given to them by the United States to rebuild their economy. The United States blackmailed the Serbian Government by playing on their need for this money and threatening to take all financial aid away. Milosevic’s trial on the charges of war crimes and other crimes which were previously mentioned, began at The Hague on February 12, 2002. Many different people have contrasting opinions on whether or not this, “Architect of the Bloodshed” should be tried for the crimes against him by an international judiciary force.
Slobodan Milosevic emerged as a prominent force in Serbian politics, in 1987. He quickly ascended the political ladder and was elected President of Serbia by the national assembly in May 1989. The following thirteen years of his reign would eventually lead to his downfall and arrest. The trouble began when nationalism began to grow in Yugoslavia’s republics, which occurred after communist governments throughout Eastern Europe disbanded. The feeling of nationalism led to the republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina removing themselves from the federation. The problem from this separation was generated by the large Serbian population in Croatia and Bosnia. The Serbs in these regions wanted self-determination, and they demanded their sections of the republics remain in Yugoslavia. This conflict led to wars in both Croatia...