-Caveat Lector- ----- Original Message ----- From: Vladimir Krsljanin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;> Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 7:35 AM Subject: Inteview with Tiphaine Dickson on resignation of Richard May
> Interview with Quebec ICDSM-lawyer Tiphaine Dickson on the resignation of > presiding judge in the Milosevic-case, Richard May > ********************************************************** > > Q: Late Sunday, the President of the ICTY, Theodor Meron, announced the > resignation of Richard May of the United Kingdom, the presiding judge in the > Milosevic trial. Officially, the resignation is due to the ill health of > judge May. > What was your first take on these developments? > > Tiphaine Dickson: This is a spectacular development-- only days before the > end of the presentation of the prosecution's evidence-- which has gone on > for > two years already. This resignation demonstrates that the length and > complexity > of this process, not to mention the hundreds of witnesses, 30,000 pages of > transcripts, 500 videotapes, hundreds of audiotapes, and huge quantity of > other > exhibits cannot be adequately handled, let alone be meaningfully understood, > by > a person in ill health. It is unfortunate that Slobodan Milosevic-- whose > health concerns similarly reduce his capacity properly to analyse and > challenge > the voluminous record generated so far-- has not been treated with the same > deference accorded to Richard May. Much has been made in the mainstream > press > about President Milosevic's illness "wasting the court's time", yet Richard > May's > undisclosed health problems are not treated with contempt, but rather with > compassion and concern. Slobodan Milosevic cannot resign from the ICTY for > health reasons, and on the contrary, he has confronted this process while > struggling against a life-threatening illness, despite being denied > provisional release > or specialized medical care to treat his condition. > > Q: In recent days, the international press reported that the genocide charge > has not been proven. > > Dickson: The press' assessment of the quality of evidence presented so far > is > accurate to the extent that the evidence presented by the ICTY prosecutor > has > been anemic, rife with hearsay, opinion, speculation and irrelevancies. It > is > evident that counts should be dismissed, and in my opinion, the prosecutor > has not succeeded in presenting a coherent or compelling case, in accordance > with the standards of criminal justice. > > Q: Some media went even further, saying that even evidence of war crimes in > Bosnia and Croatia seems to be very shaky. If so, the remaining part would > be > the Kosovo indictment. Is that a way for the press to prepare the public for > some charges being dropped or might there be something else behind this? For > Mr. > Milosevic it would not make any difference whether he gets one or five life > sentences. But for the Western governments it would make a difference > whether > Milosevic's defense case covers all three indictments or is reduced to just > Kosovo. If reduced to Kosovo, would Mr. Milosevic still be able to tell the > whole > story that there was a plan to destroy Yugoslavia-something to qualify the > 'plan' not from his side but from the West, from Croatia and Bosnia? Or > could we > consider it an attempt to destroy a successful defense case? > > Dickson: If the Chamber were to dismiss both the Bosnia and Croatia > indictments, it would still be possible for SM to present his defense as > announced in > his opening statement. Kosovo was the West's-- NATO, the EU, US and other > powers-- pretext for a gruesome 78-day bombing campaign, executed in > violation of > international law, using weapons, targets, and tactics which violate the > laws > and customs of war. This aggression marked the culmination of the > decade-long > effort to dismember Yugoslavia. As such, and in particular given the fact > that > the Kosovo indictment was served in the course of the bombing, to neutralize > the Yugoslav leadership's potential to negotiate peace-- which had always > been > successfully achieved by President Milosevic in the past-- it is open to him > to contextualize this indictment > > It is highly likely that Mr. Milosevic will present the defense he has > planned and will demonstrate that there was only one war: the war against > Yugoslavia. In any event, the Prosecutor has chosen to allege, in the Kosovo > indictment, > that Slobodan Milosevic was the principal interlocutor for the > "international > community" since 1989, and "was the primary representative of the SFRY and > FRY: The Hague Conference in 1991; the Paris negotiations of March 1993; the > International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia in January 1993; the > Vance-Owen > peace plan negotiations between January and May 1993; the Geneva peace talks > in the summer of 1993; the Contact Group meeting in June 1994; the > negotiations for a cease fire in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 9-14 September > 1995; the > negotiations to end the bombing by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization > (NATO) in > Bosnia and Herzegovina, 14-20 September 1995; and the Dayton peace > negotiations > in November 1995." > > The Prosecutor made the decision to stipulate President Milosevic's primary > role in these largely successful peace negotiations in order to establish, > astonishingly, his responsibility for the commission of crimes, rather than > for > having negotiated peace. Slobodan Milosevic is therefore entitled to explore > all > issues relevant to these conferences and negotiations, including the > underlying conflicts that led to them. In doing this, he will have the > opportunity to > identify the foreign interests which were responsible for the dismemberment > of > Yugoslavia, from the first unconstitutional secessions to the illegal > bombing > of Yugoslavia. > > Q: How will the trial continue? > > The rules of procedure provide that a new judge cannot be assigned to a > trial-- and in this case, evidence has been heard for two years-- unless the > accused consents to such a measure. However, the judges may disregard the > accused's > objection if the "interests of justice" so dictate. The accused's consent > appears illusory if the Chamber is entitled to ignore it, even if they do so > "in > the interests of justice". If the remaining judges choose to assign a new > judge > despite Mr. Milosevic's objections-- which is very likely, as the President > of the ICTY, Theodor Meron, has essentially prejudged the issue in his press > release announcing Richard May's resignation, by stating that he is > "confident > that Judge May's resignation will not have an unduly disruptive effect on > any > proceedings before the Tribunal"-- President Milosevic is nonetheless > entitled > to appeal their decision. Furthermore, any new judge assigned must certify > that he or she is familiar with the record before sitting on the case. The > evidence presented so far has generated over 33,000 pages of transcripts, > not to > mention tapes, both audio and video, maps, and a variety of other exhibits. > It > would not be decent to suggest that one could skim through-- let alone > "familiarize"-- oneself with such a voluminous record, in such an important > trial, in > less than a year. > > It is important to point out that courts of appeal rarely overturn trial > judgments with respect to credibility. This is because trial judges are > deemed to > have had a unique opportunity to assess the witness' demeanor in a > courtroom. > In this case, over 200 witnesses have testified so far, and matters of > credibility have been of crucial importance. How could a new judge > appreciate the > eloquent body language of witnesses such as Rade Markovic or Captain Dragan > Vasilikovic without having seen them? It would be necessary for any new > judge, in > addition to reading--and understanding-- the record in its entirety, to > carefully watch the video footage from the beginning of the process. This > requires at > least one year's time. > > Although it appears that the ICTY will push to continue the matter despite > Richard May's resignation, it is important to note that in common law > proceedings, this situation would normally constitute a mistrial, and > require that > proceedings start anew. Unfortunately, the political pressure is such that > on this > issue-- like so many others-- the rights of the defendant will likely take a > back seat to political expedience. The ICTY judges could even modify the > rules > in order to facilitate the continuation of the process, as they have now > amended their rules 28 times in a little over a decade. > Such a development would be an unfortunate precedent for the future of > international law. > > Thank you, Maitre Dickson, for answering those questions. > > Interviewer: Cathrin Schütz > > A shortened version of this interview was published in the German daily > "junge Welt", February 25, 2004 > > ******************************************************* > STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM AND TRUTH ABOUT THE SERBIAN PEOPLE AND YUGOSLAVIA IS IN > THE CRUCIAL PHASE. NATO AND ITS SERVICES IN BELGRADE AND THE HAGUE HAVE NO > INTEREST TO SUPPORT IT. > ******************************************************* > SO IT TOTALLY DEPENDS ON YOU! > ******************************************************* > A SMALL TEAM OF PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC'S ASSISTANTS, WHICH IS BECOMING > INTERNATIONAL, HAS TO HAVE CONDITIONS TO WORK AT THE HAGUE IN THE TIME OF > INTENSIVE PREPARATIONS FOR THE FINAL PRESENTATION OF TRUTH AND DURING THAT > PRESENTATION. > ******************************************************* > TO DONATE, PLEASE CONTACT SLOBODA OR THE NEAREST ICDSM BRANCH, OR > > find the instructions at: > http://www.sloboda.org.yu/pomoc.htm > > =================================================== > To join or help this struggle, visit: > http://www.sloboda.org.yu/ (Sloboda/Freedom association) > http://www.icdsm.org/ (the international committee to defend Slobodan > Milosevic) > http://www.free-slobo.de/ (German section of ICDSM) > http://www.icdsm-us.org/ (US section of ICDSM) > http://www.icdsmireland.org/ (ICDSM Ireland) > http://www.wpc-in.org/ (world peace council) > http://www.geocities.com/b_antinato/ (Balkan antiNATO center) > ==================================================== > www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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