Milosevic
was arrested just as the March 31 deadline supposedly
stipulated by Serbia Democratization Act 2000 was expiring. By
this date, according to the legislation, the Administration
had to certify to Congress that the Belgrade regime was
sufficiently in compliance with Washington’s demands that it
merited $50 million in aid. This in fact is yet another lie.
The Serbia Democratization Act does not condition the release
of $50 million on Yugoslavia cooperating with the Hague
Tribunal. It is only the continued imposition of sanctions,
particularly membership in the international financial
institutions, that depended on how Belgrade comported itself
towards Carla del Ponte. Moreover, the March 31 deadline was
completely arbitrary. The legislation makes no mention of this
date. Yet, as usual by dint of repetition, the story of the
looming March 31 deadline became the stuff of high drama. Even
so, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic showed his usual
shamelessness by denying that the timing of Milosevic’s arrest
had anything to do with the deadline. "Conditioning of that
kind is unacceptable for a sovereign country," he declared. Of
course it is. No doubt when Djindjic was in Washington a few
days before the arrest US officials must have reassured him
that they would not seek to get their money’s worth from the
bought and paid for Belgrade politicians. Yet two days after
the arrest Djindjic was positively salivating at the prospect
of millions of dollars pouring into Yugoslavia. "We do
cooperate with The Hague," Djindjic
boasted to Reuters. "Our government has met all the
criteria stipulated by the US Congress law."
The
United States Government responded entirely in character.
Having caused billions of dollars of damage during NATO’s 1999
bombing, US lawmakers patted themselves on their backs for
their unparalleled generosity in forking over a measly $50
million. The US Government shelled out $1 billion for tiny
Montenegro last year alone as it sought to detach it from
Yugoslavia as part of its anti-Milosevic campaign.
Washington’s response to Milosevic’s arrest was even less
generous. Having humiliated the Kostunica/Djindjic regime by
making it clear that there would be no flexibility on
deadlines US officials turned around and announced that
Belgrade’s record of compliance was only adequate so far and
that it would have to do a lot better in the future if it
wanted more money. Secretary of State Colin Powell declared
that US support for a forthcoming international donors
conference depended on Yugoslavia’s "full cooperation" with
Carla del Ponte’s Tribunal. According
to a UPI story, "State Department officials privately told
United Press International they believe Belgrade is
foot-dragging on cooperation with the tribunal."
Djindjic
was soon reassuring Washington lawmakers by saying the sorts
of things they want to hear. Yugoslavia’s new government, he
said, was determined to confound the expectations of
foreigners about Serbs being reluctant to confront the abuses
of the past. "We must try to organize some therapy," he
declared. He knows his public. Djindjic also declared that the
Belgrade regime intended to press war crimes charges against
Milosevic. The truly creepy Serbian
Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic announced that
Milosevic could face the death penalty. He could be tried for
inciting an armed rebellion, murder, even treason. "We have
indications that Milosevic was also involved in serious crimes
which carry the death penalty. But we are talking about
investigations, we need proof," he said. The United States
Government invariably works with the lowest kinds of people.
Only low people are prepared to turn their country over to the
control of foreign powers for a few miserable dollars.
Mihajlovic throws out accusations and then lamely adds: "we
need proof." In a particularly nauseating touch he suggested
that Milosevic might prefer to be tried at The Hague so as to
avoid the death penalty he would face at home. "Also the
prisons in Serbia are far from being very comfortable," he
sniggered. No, they are not like the luxury suites laid on at
The Hague.
President
Vojislav Kostunica also conducted himself entirely in
character. His first act was to be out of the country when the
first attempt at arrest was made. The military, fearing a
setup, refused to cooperate with the police until the
President himself signed off on the arrest. Thus a meeting was
hastily arranged between Kostunica, Djindjic and General
Nebojsa Patkovic, the Army Chief-of-Staff. Kostunica, unable
to perform his usual "No one tells me what’s going on" routine
had
to step forward and admit that he had authorized the
arrest. "In order for the state to survive, no one must be
untouchable," he declared. "Whoever shoots at the police must
be apprehended. Whoever has been subpoenaed by a judge must
answer those summons. Whoever hinders the law must bear
responsibility regardless of his rank or official status. The
law applies to every citizen." Yet in no time at all Kostunica
was distancing himself from the arrest. He said he himself had
only been told about the operation after it had started. The
police action was "clumsy and not well thought out," he
announced. Transferring Milosevic to The Hague was not "his
government’s immediate priority." This is standard Kostunica
evasiveness. Interviewed
by the New York Times, Kostunica sounded more
categorical. Milosevic would not be handed over. "It should
never happen," he explained. Even Djindjic was opposed to
Milosevic’s extradition. This is yet another lie. Djindjic has
never expressed any opposition. Kostunica demonstrated his
usual slipperiness by also announcing his approval of a draft
law on cooperation with the Tribunal that would allow
Yugoslavia to extradite anyone sought be Carla del
Ponte.
Kostunica
then went into his "Serbian nationalist" routine and launched
into familiar complaints about the Tribunal. It had not
indicted leaders of other former Yugoslav republics. It had
not indicted any of the leaders of the NATO countries involved
in the bombing of Yugoslavia. "If that would come about," he
declared, "we could start thinking of the validity of
cooperation with The Hague tribunal." This seems bizarre even
by Kostunica standards. Carla del Ponte herself has expressed
her satisfaction with Belgrade’s cooperation with the
Tribunal. It is noteworthy that no one in the world seriously
doubts that the Kostunica regime will not hand Milosevic over
to The Hague – probably within the next couple of months.
All this
will be for very little. The financial aid supposedly heading
Belgrade’s way from the financial institutions is a pittance.
There is talk of a $260 million loan from the IMF. But far
more important is the small matter of Yugoslavia’s $12.2
billion external debt. Yugoslavia owes some $5.0 billion to
the Paris Club and around $3.0 billion to the London Club. The
creditors want their money back. That’s what the IMF is there
for: to make sure bankers and financiers are taken care of.
As for
Milosevic himself, he will remain in detention indefinitely.
Evidently, one of the things the United States does not export
is the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The
basis of any justice system is that a defendant does not have
to talk to prosecutors if he does not want to. Moreover, there
is also the right to a speedy trial. A fundamental protection
against arbitrary government is that one cannot be arrested
and then be detained in prison while prosecutors take their
time to look for the evidence. But no one cares. Milosevic’s
arrest and imprisonment without trial serves one purpose only:
to absolve the true instigators of the carnage in the Balkans
of any responsibility for their actions.
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