Serb parties condemn NATO justice
Kosovo phase of Milosevic 'trial' ends
By John Catalinotto
Organizations and parties inside Serbia reacted to the Sept.
12 end of the "Kosovo phase" of the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia's case against Slobodan
Milosevic with statements denouncing the ICTY's conduct of the
"trial."
Speaking from Belgrade Sept. 14, members of four leading
Serbian political parties called the results of the hearings "a
collapse of the Kosovo indictment."
Those taking part in the conference of the Yugoslav National
Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic--Freedom included
Doguljub Bjelica, deputy president of the Socialist Party of
Serbia (SPS), Dr. Vojislav Seselj, president of the Serbian
Radical Party (SRS), Goran Matic, vice-president of the
Yugoslav Left (JUL), and Radisa Z. Kovacevic, member of the
Presidency of the Patriotic Alliance of Yugoslavia.
Bjelica said, "These days we are witnessing the collapse of
the Kosovo indictment against our people and peace in the
Balkans. In the name of our national existence, we demand
Slobodan Milosevic's immediate release."
Seselj added, "Since Serbia and the Serbs are in the dock in
The Hague [Netherlands], it is Slobodan Milosevic who defends
both Serbia and the Serbs."
Matic brought up the role of the ICTY, which was created and
funded by the same NATO forces that waged war on Yugoslavia.
"Slobodan Milosevic has faced the court and managed to smash
the indictment. The court will meet with an even bigger fiasco
when it comes to indictments issued by Bosnia and Croatia."
That phase is due to start sometime late in September.
Another statement by the Belgrade Forum analyzed the results
of the first phase of the trial. The Forum outlined some of the
more blatant irregularities of the trial process.
On June 14 the presiding judge allowed retired NATO Gen.
Klaus Naumann, a witness against Milosevic, to cut short his
cross-examination. The excuse was "the witness had a plane to
catch."
Gen. Naumann had authorized the bombardment of targets in
downtown Belgrade during the 1999 war, including Milosevic's
residence. Nevertheless the ICTY considered him
"impartial."
Witness K12--who had refused to testify, claiming he was
exposed to psychological pressure by the prosecution--was held
in contempt of court. He was the only witness so punished,
although many witnesses gave hardly credible testimony.
These were just two of many outrages.
In its Sept. 12 release the Belgrade emphasized that the
ICTY was so desperate to make its case that it attempted to
blame Yugoslav security forces for crimes committed by NATO.
For example, it tried to show that Yugoslav forces killed
prisoners held in the "Dubrava" prison in Kosovo. In fact, NATO
planes had bombed the prison.
The ICTY's witnesses in these parts of the trial were all
linked to the KLA terrorists who were trying to overthrow
Yugoslav federal rule in Kosovo and were fighting as allies of
NATO. Thus none of these witnesses were "impartial."
The Belgrade Forum brought up the additional point that
President Milosevic's health is precarious, with his blood
pressure reaching the level of 200/120 from his efforts to
represent himself during the trial.
Reprinted from the Sept. 26, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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