The Hague: Milosevic accuses NATO
During a pre-trial hearing at The Hague on October 29-30, former President of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, accused the NATO Western alliance of staging "criminal aggression" against Yugoslavia. The tribunal set February 12, 20002, as the starting date for his trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia. Mr Milosevic demanded that the chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte be disqualified. "... we heard her yesterday, loud and clear, reading the indictment concerning Kosovo, which only deals with events from the 24th of March until the end of first week of June, when ... the whole planet knows that it is exactly from the 24th March until the first week of June, inclusive, that NATO committed its criminal aggression against Yugoslavia. "The indictment and what we have heard implies that NATO did not commit aggression against Yugoslavia, but rather that Yugoslavia committed aggression against itself...", said Mr Milosevic. During those 78 days and 78 nights of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia 22,000 tons of bombs were delivered causing huge number of victims. "IF the court is able to remain blind to the fact that from the 24th of March to the first week of June aggression was committed, that the number of victims was huge, that 22,000 tons of bombs was delivered and that an attempt is being made to blame all this on Yugoslavia as if it committed these crimes against itself and to absolve NATO — and I think that even such an illegal court must take into account these facts — ... then it is obvious this is not a court, but only a part of the machinery for the execution of crimes against my country and my people. "If the latter is the case, ... and therefore, the court is part of the machinery, then, please, read the verdicts you have been instructed to reach and stop bothering me — making me listen for hours to texts written at the level of a seven-year-old child; to put it more precisely — a retarded seven-year old child..." Mr Milosevic pointed to the influence of the trials on terrorism in the south of Serbia. "I wish to warn you that these days, these weeks and months Albanian terrorists at the south of Serbia are cutting throats, setting the fires, raping, beating up, plundering and doing everything else they used to do in Kosovo and Metohia. "They were given wings because in distinction to the current American administration that has declared an antagonistic position regarding terrorism, the previous administration was in alliance with terrorism. "They knew that Osama bin Laden was in Albania two years after he demolished their embassies. "They even commented on that fact when meeting with me and my associates. So, please do not induce terrorism in the south of Serbia because people there are suffering too much. "You should also bear in mind that because of such terror and under the Untied Nations auspices 330,000 persons were driven from Kosovo and Metohia. 330,000 mainly Serbs under the auspices of the United Nations. Judge May redirected matters to Mr Milosevic's physical and mental state. Mr Milosevic requested that cameras in his prison cell be removed, and that they cease having officials present when his family visits. "The explanations for cameras in the cell are senseless. It is explained that cameras are needed to prevent me from committing suicide. "I wish to declare here in front of this court that I would never commit suicide because first of all I do not want to do that to my children and my family ... "Secondly. I would never commit suicide because I have to fight here, to destroy this court and this mockery of a trial and its employers who are using this court against persons fighting for freedom in the world." Following the reading of the "Kosovo indictment" Slobodan Milosevic declared the indictment to be false. "And that is for two reasons. First, there is a total intention to completely switch the roles played by the two sides in the conflict... " At this point the microphone was turned off. After the reading of the "Croatia indictment", Mr Milosevic described it as "the second act of the crime committed against my people, because it proclaims the victim to be the culprit in order to protect the real culprits for the crime against Yugoslavia. "It is absurd to accuse Serbia and the Serbs for the armed secession of Croatia that caused civil war, conflicts and sufferings for the civilian population. The indictment even attempts to refute the late Croatian boss Franjo Tudjman who in his message to the Croat people said... " The mike was cut again.* * * To join or help this struggle, visit: http://www.sps.org.yu/(official SPS website) http://www.belgrade-forum.org/(forum for the world of equals) http://www.icdsm.org/(the international committee to defend Slobodan Milosevic)