Milosevic's former aide stands on trial in Serbia

Photo: Milosevic's former aide stands on trial in Serbia

Milosevic's former aide stands on trial in Serbia

A former Slobodan Milosevic’s aide stood on trial Wednesday in Serbia accused of syphoning millions of dollars (euros) of state money to foreign accounts.

Mihalj Kertes, former customs chief and one of the late president's key aides, was indicted for abuse of position and embezzlement by Serbia's special court for organized crime.

The indictment against Kertes alleges that he acted on Milosevic's orders and illegally transferred millions of dollars of state money to Cyprus and dozens of offshore accounts elsewhere during U.N. sanctions in the 1990s.

Milosevic was also initially indicted but he died last year while in custody of the U.N. war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia.

Another Milosevic aide, former vice-premier Nikola Sainovic, was also charged in Serbia, but the trial against him was postponed because of proceedings before the Netherlands-based U.N. court. Sainovic is on trial there over his alleged role in atrocities in Kosovo during the 1998-99 war.