Yugoslav Refuses To Answer Charges
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, July 4, 2001; Page A01
THE HAGUE, July 3 -- Defiant and outwardly calm, former Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic refused to respond to the charges against him today in his
first appearance before an international war crimes tribunal, seeking instead to
turn a brief arraignment into an attack on the court's legitimacy and on NATO
for its 1999 bombing of Serbia. "I consider this tribunal a false tribunal and indictments false
indictments," Milosevic said in English, making his first public comments since
his arrest in Belgrade on April 1 on unrelated corruption charges, followed by a
dramatic nighttime transfer here last Thursday. Leaning forward in his chair, his eyes steely and with one arm leaning on his
desk, he said, "It is illegal, being not appointed by the U.N. General Assembly.
So I have no need to appoint counsel to [an] illegal organ." Despite Milosevic's refusal to name a lawyer, Presiding Judge Richard May of
Britain asked him whether he would like to have the indictment against him read
out or whether he would waive that right, to which Milosevic answered in a voice
laced with scorn: "That's your problem." When asked if he wished to enter a plea today, or within 30 days as required
by the court, Milosevic replied: "This tribunal's aim is to produce false
justification for the war crimes committed by NATO against Yugoslavia." May
again asked if Milosevic wished to enter a plea, and he responded: "I have given
you my answer. Furthermore, this so-called tribunal . . . " and then his
microphone was cut off. The court entered a plea of not guilty on Milosevic's behalf. At that point,
Milosevic spoke again. "As I have said, the aim of this tribunal is to justify
the crimes committed in Yugoslavia," he said. "That is why this is a false
tribunal, and illegitimate." The judge cut him off with an admonishment, declaring: "This is not the time
for speeches. As I have said, you will have the full opportunity, in due course,
to defend yourself and to make your defense before the tribunal. This is not the
moment to do so." May set the next hearing for Aug. 27 to assess the status of the case before
the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Milosevic, along with four other top military and political officials still
at large, has been charged with crimes against humanity for a campaign of terror
and deportation against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo carried out from January to
June 1999 by the Yugoslav army and police, the Serbian police and Serbian
paramilitary units. Milosevic is being charged in his capacity as then-president
and supreme commander of the Yugoslav armed forces. Kosovo is a province of
Serbia, the dominant republic of Yugoslavia. For most of the time until the Aug. 27 hearing, Milosevic will remain two
miles from the tribunal courthouse, at Scheveningen prison, in a cell with a
desk, a shower, a toilet and a washbasin. Although he will be isolated from the
other 38 inmates who gather regularly for basketball and soccer, Milosevic will
have use of prison facilities, including a shop, a telephone, an exercise room,
an outdoor courtyard and a library. Prison officials have described him as
"respectful" of the prison rules and staff. The prison also has a room for conjugal visits. Milosevic's wife, Mirjana
Markovic, indicated today she wants to fly here to visit him. Tribunal officials
have asked the Dutch government to remove Markovic's name from a list of former
Yugoslav leaders banned from traveling among the 15 countries of the European
Union, and the government has said it will consider the request. The brevity of today's proceedings -- 12 minutes in all -- did nothing to
detract from the sense of history unfolding, as Milosevic, 59, became the first
former head of state to be sitting before the tribunal formed to affix blame for
atrocities in the Balkan wars of the 1990s. An atmosphere of electricity and nervous excitement filled the small
courtroom as Milosevic was escorted in by two blue-shirted U.N. police officers
and took his seat behind a wall of bulletproof glass. He stood with his hands
clasped lightly in front of him as the three judges entered and took their
seats. Various courtroom observers described his composure as "self-confident,"
even oddly "presidential," with his familiar jaw jutting firmly. When it was over, and he was being led out of the courtroom, Milosevic
glanced down at the watch on his left wrist. A reporter heard him mumble, "10
minutes." There was debate over how long Milosevic's refusal to cooperate might last.
Some observers suggested today's theater was an opening gambit by the man who
ruled Serbia and Yugoslavia with cunning and ruthlessness through the 1990s as
the Yugoslav federation flew apart with most of its constituent republics
becoming independent, leaving only Serbia and tiny Montenegro. If he continues his refusal to cooperate, a lawyer could be assigned to
defend him against his wishes, said a tribunal spokesman. "We can't allow an
accused not to be defended," the spokesman said. "We'll see, step by step. . . .
He might change his mind." Graham Blewitt, deputy prosecutor at the court, said before today's hearing
that it would be "extremely foolish" of Milosevic to continue acting as his own
lawyer. "It's just a tactic, a strategy he's engaging in this morning," he
said. "He, one, denied the legitimacy of the court and, two, instead tended to turn
the proceedings into a political event, suggesting it was a political vendetta
against him to cover NATO's actions in Yugoslavia," said Richard Dicker,
director of the international justice program for New York-based Human Rights
Watch. "The court was clear; they are going to proceed according to the court's
rules," said Dicker, who was in the courtroom. "He hasn't come to grips with his
situation as a defendant before an international court." Dicker and other lawyers said Milosevic is unlikely to prevail by challenging
the legitimacy of the tribunal, since an earlier defendant tried that route and
failed. A contention by Milosevic that the tribunal has no standing since it was
not created by the U.N. General Assembly also is an unlikely challenge, because
the tribunal was set up by the Security Council. Milosevic has been charged under the section of the tribunal's statute that
deals with "command responsibility," meaning that while he may not have been
directly involved in the Kosovo killings and deportations, he should have known
about them and failed to take steps to prevent them. While prosecutors and human rights advocates say the case against Milosevic
is strong, they also caution that it will not be easy to prove in court. "The
evidentiary requirements are enormous," said Dicker. "It's not an easy case to
prove. Everything hinges on the prosecution proving the theory of command
responsibility. There won't be, I suspect, a smoking gun memo that says, 'Kill
them, smoke them out, do whatever you have to.' " Blewitt, the deputy prosecutor, agreed. "This is only the start of a very
long and hard road," he told reporters. "It's not going to be an easy
prosecution. The work is still ahead of us." With the arraignment complete, the discovery phase should begin, in which the
prosecutors have 30 days to make available to Milosevic all evidence used to
secure the indictment. Later, a witness list will be made available. Defense lawyers who have represented others accused of war crimes here say
the deck is stacked in favor of the prosecutors, who not only have enormous
resources of their own but also have at their disposal the assets of Western
governments, armed forces and intelligence agencies, including satellite
photographs and communications intercepts. "Here, the gulf between the defense and the prosecution is, in fact,
enormous," said one defense lawyer, who is not involved with the Milosevic case
but has appeared before the tribunal. "I'm afraid it's really working
uphill." This lawyer said it is unlikely Milosevic could prevail by saying that as
president in Belgrade he had no knowledge of what was happening in the killing
fields of Kosovo. "He's not going to weasel out with that," the lawyer said.
"He's going to get into trouble because he was plainly fixed with
knowledge."
Miroslav Antic,
http://www.antic.org/
