PRE-DEFENSE CONFERENCE SUMMARY
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - June 17, 2004
by Andy Wilcoxson
JUNE 17, 2004 - The Hague tribunal held a pre-defense
conference today in the so-called "trial" of Slobodan Milosevic. Not
surprisingly, the tribunal used the conference as an opportunity place severe
restrictions on his defense.
Milosevic has been denied sufficient time to
prepare his defense. The prosecution case ended on February 18th, but the
tribunal's medical staff would not allow Milosevic to begin work until March
25th. They also refused to let him work between April 14th and May 25th. On top
of that, they will not allow him to work for more than three days a
week.
During the time that the tribunal's doctors won't allow Milosevic
to work, he is kept practically in isolation. He can not interview witnesses,
and he is prohibited from seeing his legal associates. The prison authorities
simply send them all away.
In spite of all the sick time that has been
imposed on him by the tribunal, they are still requiring him to begin his
defense on July 5th. This means that they have denied him even the ridiculously
short 90 day preparation period that they had promised him originally.
On
top of denying Milosevic any possibility of preparation. They have imposed a 150
day limit on his defense case, which is substantially less time than the
prosecution got.
In addition, the so-called "trial chamber" announced
that it would only allow Milosevic to call witnesses that it considered to be
relevant. It was noted that a large group of witnesses that Milosevic wishes to
call are Serbs who were detained in camps in Bosnia and Croatia. In its zeal to
crucify the Serbian people and label them as aggressors the tribunal questioned
the relevance of these Serb victims, even though their relevance is obvious.
Unlike the prosecution, the tribunal is demanding that Milosevic produce
documents and witness lists in a timely and orderly fashion. Acknowledging the
double standard, the "Presiding Judge," Patrick Robinson told Milosevic that he
should not use the prosecution's prior conduct as a guide for how to present his
case.
Milosevic is required to tender all of his exhibits in the next
seven days. He is required to produce a list of his first fifty witnesses in the
order that he intends to call them. He is also required to present the reports
from all of his expert witnesses six weeks before they testify. None of these
requirements were imposed on the prosecution. Milosevic constantly received
information from the prosecution only at the last minute. For example, when the
prosecution called Gen. Morillion, Milosevic was only given the witness
statement when he got to the court that morning.
In spite of the
tribunal's attempts to deny him his right to a defense, Milosevic remained
defiant. He told the tribunal that "The most terrible accusations have been
uttered here. The most flagrant lies have been spoken here as well, and the only
means to fight that is to present the truth." He went on to say, "I should like
here before the public to prove that these are false indictments, false
accusations against Serbia, against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, against
myself personally, and against what you call Serb troops."
Milosevic
demanded that the tribunal subpoena Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Hans-Dietrich
Genscher, and Gerhard Schroeder to testify about their roles in the destruction
of Yugoslavia. He said, "Clinton has to appear here. Schroeder, Blair, others,
too" Milosevic added, "The reasons for which Mr. Clinton should appear here are
quite clear. He decided upon many matters which had to do with Yugoslavia. He
uttered a series of lies as a pretext to the bombing of Yugoslavia. He gave the
orders."
In spite of Milosevic's request, the tribunal made no formal
decision on whether or not they would subpoena these people. Milosevic also
requested that the tribunal subpoena intelligence service documents from
Britain, Germany and the United States.
The names of the other witnesses
that Milosevic intends to call remained confidential. Although, Milosevic did
indicate that he will call a series of expert witnesses "in the first wave" in
order to "lay the foundation" of his case. Following the experts, he will call
the fact-based witnesses who were on the ground and witnessed events first
hand.
Milosevic will begin his defense with an opening statement on July
5th, and following that he will call his first witness.
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg061704.htm