Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica warned that he did not want bloodshed but that no one was above the law if the state was to survive. Several hundred riot police lay seige to the house of Milosevic in the second night of the standoff. Milosevic had vowed that he would defy the authorities to his death. The raid was bloodless, but there had been gunfire. There is still no indication yet as to when he will be taken in front of a judge.
War crimes remain a difficult topic for the Yugoslav nation.
Milosevic's supporters fought a war and they now have to come to terms with the fact that many of their own people, many of the young men from their own families, were involved in horrendous and brutal crimes. Serbs are only just waking up to the news that the man who ruled them with an iron fist for 13 years is finally behind bars. Many Serbs wanted to see Milosevic punished for allegedly lined his own pockets at the expense of the Serb citizens, rather than for the war crimes he allegedly committed in Kosovo. Many speculate that the level of mismanagement, misgovernment, downright corruption and gangster-like practices that Milosovic has been accused of practicing will be exposed during the trial, and that at some point, he may be called to The Hague based on information that may come out of this trial. The attempted arrest came just hours ahead of a U.S. deadline for Belgrade to cooperate with the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal, or face suspension of millions of dollars in economic aid.