Serbian President Vojislav Kostunica has ruled out extraditing Slobodan Milosevic to the Hague anytime soon.
His comments came as a Belgrade court rejected Milosevic's appeal against a 30-day detention order.
Milosevic's Socialist Party have threatened to launch daily protests if he is not freed on bail by Friday.
President Kostunica says Serbia is willing to co-operate with the UN war crimes tribunal but that does not mean subordinating national dignity for "a handful of dollars."
"Milosevic stands primarily and paramountly responsible before his own nation, his state," Kostunica said.
"He is guilty of all the things he did - the country's disintegration and economic collapse - and all the things he failed to do as president. That guilt is enormous."
Kostunica also criticized the U.N. tribunal for pursuing "selective justice" by failing to indict leaders of other former Yugoslav republics "and even the leaders of NATO" for the 1999 bombing of his country.
Since Milosevic was arrested last weekend on corruption and abuse of power charges, Yugoslav authorities have stepped up their investigations into other possible criminal complaints against the 59-year-old deposed leader.
Serbian Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic says the probe also points to more serious offenses allegedly committed during his 13-year rule.
"There are, meanwhile, indications that Slobodan Milosevic was involved in severe criminal acts for which the death penalty is provided," Mihajlovic told reporters in Vienna, Austria.