------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Dec. 27, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
IMPRISONED BY NATO: MILOSEVIC REBUTS THOSE WHO BOMBED BELGRADE By John Catalinotto Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic used his Dec. 11 appearance before the pro-NATO tribunal in The Hague to turn the tables on his captors with a sharp political rebuttal of the U.S.-NATO charges against him. The prosecution read charges of 29 counts of "genocide" against Milosevic for alleged actions involving Bosnia and Croatia. As part of a general policy of abusing its prisoner, the court placed loudspeakers at ear level right in front of Milosevic as the charges were read. The Yugoslav leader refused to enter a plea on these charges. "I deserve credit for the peace in Bosnia, not the war," Milosevic told the court. "The responsibility for the war lies with the powers that have been breaking up Yugoslavia and with their agents in Yugoslavia--not with Serbia, not with the Serbian people and not with Serbian policy. This is an attempt ..." At this point the court cut off the captive's microphone. Later that day he was able to make a more complete statement. The prosecution had moved to try Milosevic for charges involving Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia in one single case. This was denied and the trial involving Kosovo is now set to open Feb. 12, 2002. Milosevic told the court it was entirely clear to him why the prosecution insisted on "unifying" the charges. Milosevic said, "It is because of September 11th. They want to divert attention from the accusations against me concerning Kosovo, since those accusations inevitably open the question of the Clinton administration's collaboration with terrorists in Kosovo, including [Osama] bin Laden's organization. "Second, regarding what we have heard today, they are conscious that, if they focus on Kosovo, they cannot, regardless of the illegality of this court, avoid having the main perpetrators of the crimes committed against my country and my people, starting from [former President Bill] Clinton, [former Secretary of State Madeleine] Albright and [Gen. Wesley] Clark and then also the others, appear before this body." Since he was kidnapped to The Hague last June, Milosevic has refused to recognize the authority of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia--the official name of the tribunal. He has treated the ICTY as a tool of the Western powers in its campaign to destroy Yugoslavia and take over the Balkans. These powers created the ICTY and fund it. The current U.S. "war against terror" targets many of the same forces that Washington used against Yugoslavia in the 1990s. An article in the Oct. 7 Los Angeles Times reported that Al Qaeda operatives were active throughout Bosnia and Kosovo with the forces that waged civil war against Yugoslavia. The Times article asserted that U.S. policy would turn hostile to Washington's clients in the Bosnian government and in the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army if they refuse to hunt down the Al Qaeda agents and turn them over to the U.S. The events expose how U.S. policymakers attempt to manipulate religious or national antagonisms to divide and conquer. Defending his country's record of allowing equal rights to many national minorities, Milosevic said, "The example of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its very good inter- ethnic relations during the whole period of conflicts demonstrates this best. During the conflict in Bosnia no Muslim was expelled from Serbia. During the conflict in Croatia no Croat was expelled from Serbia. "More than that, during the conflict in Bosnia--look at the records at UNHCR [United Nations Human Rights Commission]-- over 70,000 Muslim refugees found shelter in Serbia. What nation, what tens of thousands of people, would seek shelter among those who had committed aggression against them?" Then, in apparent reference to the U.S. role in Iraq, Milosevic continued: "Do you know that more Muslims live in Serbia than in Bosnia and Herzegovina? The Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina were pushed into that disaster, into that war, so that those outside forces, appearing as supporters of Muslims, could hide their responsibility for the deaths of many times more-- millions of Muslims--in accordance with their interests of enslaving the world and a new colonialism." In defending his overall role, the former Yugoslav president said, "I think that all we heard here today, which is in total contradiction to the truth, has shown how failed these 'indictments' are. I can only understand them as a statement of anger and revenge for the fiasco that NATO has suffered in the attempt to militarily occupy Yugoslavia. "I can tell you that I am proud that I commanded the armed forces of Yugoslavia that have stopped NATO, since this has shown that a country, even a small one, having a strong will to defend its freedom and defend the idea of freedom and equality of nations and peoples, can succeed. I am here as a punishment for our standing up against the danger of the biggest tyranny that has threatened humankind." An official transcript of Milosevic's statement can be found at the Web site of the Socialist Party of Serbia, or at the site of the International Committee for the Defense of Slobodan Milosevic at www.icdsm.org. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. 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