INTERVIEW WITH VLADIMIR KRSLJANIN, INTERNATIONAL
SECRETARY OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF SERBIA (SPS),
published on 2 March in the Internet addition of Halo
Noviny (Czech Republic).
Interviewer Jan Hrobar. Kindly translated from the
Czech by Colin Meade.
Q: You were recently in The Hague. Did you personally
meet President Milosevic?
Vladimir Krsljanin: Unfortunately not this time. The
'tribunal' restricts Milosevic, who is the President
of our party, to only one meeting a month, lasting a
few hours, with members of the party leadership. One
such took place about a month ago. I was present at
the opening of the 'trial' as a visitor. We sat in the
gallery behind a glass screen and could only wave to
him.
Q: What impression did Milosevic make on you?
V.K. He made an absolutely superior impression not
only on me, but perhaps on all those present. There
were about a thousand journalists there from the whole
world. I think we could agree on this assessment. This
impression was certainly strengthened by the fact that
Milosevic stood alone before the 'tribunal' which is a
huge machine in the service of NATO, but with
admirable fearlessness he put forward his defence and
defeated everything which the staff of NATO experts,
employing immense technical resources, had built up
over a period of months. I think that it is impossible
to exaggerate Milosevic's achievement.
Q: Milosevic has usually addressed the 'court' in
English. What language did he use in his defence
speech?
V.K.: Serbo-Croatian. He had spoken English in dealing
with some procedural issues at the start of the
process but gave up doing so and for the past few
months has only used Serbo-Croatian before the
'tribunal'. He continues to do so, and it couldn't be
otherwise because the main Serbian TV channel is
broadcasting direct from the 'courtroom' and Milosevic
is making full use of this to address the whole
nation.
Q: How did his speech go down in Belgrade?
V.K.: Let me give you some figures, which speak louder
than any words. At present, according to our polls,
77% of the citizens of the FRY are behind Milosevic.
They feel he is defending not only himself but the
whole nation, which has been denigrated and humiliated
in The Hague. 67% believe that Milosevic will win and
together with him truth and justice, that the Serbian
nation will be vindicated before the world.
Q: How long did Milosevic speak?
V.K.: For a total of eleven hours over three days. He
started speaking at the end of the second day (13
February), but only for about half an hour before the
'court' rose. Three more days were given over to
Milosevic's defence, but on two of those days, the
'court' only sat in the morning for three hours. An
hour or so of that time was taken up with the showing
of videos displaying crimes committed by NATO in the
aggression against the FRY.
Q: The foreign media used superlatives in describing
Milosevic's performance. Did you expect him to be so
brilliant?
V.K.: We expected him to speak very effectively. We
had seen how strongly he performed at his previous
appearances before the 'tribunal', the great weight of
each argument he used to show that the 'tribunal' is
an illegal manipulated instrument in the service of
NATO and of US policy in particular.
I have to say that Milosevic's cross-examination
surprised both his friends and his enemies. Parts of
his appearance were seen by an estimated billion
people. It is especially important that it left a
strong impression. The prevailing view now is that
Milosevic is a politician without equal not only in
Serbia but also the Balkans, that he is a political
figure of international stature. Everyone could
satisfy themselves of this.
Q: As a result of this impression, people have begun
to speculate about who helped Milosevic to prepare
such a convincing presentation. What do you think
about this?
V.K.: I'm being asked this question a lot at press
conferences. I think that two factors are working
together here. The force of Milosevic's personality,
his great intellectual powers, and the fact that he is
not alone, that behind him stands the whole of our
party, all genuine patriots and practically the whole
nation, and many friends around the world. He feels
this support and the responsibility to destroy with
his words every lie.
Q: In his political career, he showed himself to be a
capable economist and financier who succeeded in
taming runaway inflation. Did he also study law?
V.K.: Yes, he studied in Belgrade and was an
outstanding student. It is notable that the majority
of professors from his faculty are supporting him.
About 30 formed a group opposing the 'tribunal'. They
show its violation of legal norms and therefore the
illegality of the 'trial.' Many people from all walks
of life want to support President Milosevic and are
offering to testify to prove he is innocent and must
be released.
Q: Some observers are surprised at the fact that
Milosevic, even after long imprisonment, seems in
excellent physical and mental condition?.
V.K.: Yes, it's remarkable. When I met him about a
month ago, I was much impressed by his vitality. All
the more so because he is held in isolation in
conditions which destroy people's strength. In a tiny
cell with minimal facilities, exposed to constant
physical and also psychological pressure. The
awareness that he is struggling for justice for his
people gives him the boundless moral strength to
resist such destructive conditions?
You ask how I see the future of the 'trial'. I'm
convinced that his jailers and their NATO paymasters
are also preoccupied with these matters and are coming
to the conclusion that the way to beat him is to break
him physically. He has destroyed the prepared scenario
for the 'trial', exposed the weakness of their
fabricated arguments and the lies of their witnesses;
he has dazzled the public and he has gained the
backing of fair-minded people around the world. In the
predictions being made by the Hague 'tribunal' that
the 'trial' may last two years or even longer, I see
an attempt, through endless delays, to wear him down.
No one is made of iron; intolerable conditions can
destroy anyone. Milosevic is waging a battle in which
he deserves the support of all who believe in
democracy and care about truth and justice. Demand his
release so that he can defend himself in freedom! The
International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic
is supporting this demand in the context of the
broader demand that he be freed unconditionally and
the Tribunal be abolished. His jailers know that other
than physical abuse, they have no way to defeat him.
Milosevic's courage requires not only recognition and
admiration, but defence and support from all decent
people.
Posted in Czech at :
http://www.halonoviny.cz/encoding/toASCII/index.php?id=16090
Copyright "Halo Noviny"
===*===
Subject: Milosevic scored 1:0 against NATO in the Hague
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 02:49:16 -0600
From: camp@...
Organization: Antiimperialist Camp News
The corporate media does not know how to cope with
Milosevic?s accuse against NATO. In order to avoid a
collapse of the amalgam of lies, which have been
proven to be fakes by the ex president?s arguments,
these very same lies are being once again inflated
and endlessly repeated, for example:
The picture from Trnopolje, which suggests a Serbian
concentration camp by showing an emaciated man
behind a barbwire is displayed again and again on
all the TV screens of the world - despite the fact
that the photograph was taken from inside the fence.
A fact which actually should be known to the
journalists.
The alleged massacre of Racak, which was used as the
pretext to legitimate the NATO attack, has been
refuted by both Dr. Helena Ranta, head of the
forensic commission of OSCE, as well as of the
German General Heinz Loquai of the OSCE monitoring
mission in Kosovo. They proved the event to be a
skirmish between UCK and Yugoslav troops.
Milosevic continues to be presented as a
bloodthirsty monster to whose arguments one should
not listen (arguments which are often distorted or
not even reported).
Even if the front of the corporate media remains
firm, however, in front of all those who retain a
trace of critical thinking Milosevic succeeded in
defying NATO?s attempt to grant itself absolution by
a political inquisition process. He was even able to
put forward heavy charges against NATO:
· The tribunal is illegitimate as it was set
up by the aggressor states and furthermore violates
the UN statutes. The criminals pose as judges.
· The secessions instigated by the West under
the guise of the right to ?self-determination? has
led and was intended to lead towards a civil war as
the Yugoslav nationalities used to live completely
intermingled.
· The Serb had been denied the very same right
to self-determination in Croatia and Bosnia.
· Yugoslavia was the only conceivable peaceful
co-existence and self-determination of the different
nationalities.
· The manifold aggression against Yugoslavia
served the geo-strategic interest of the West.
Whoever dares to defy the tyranny of the ?New World
Order? and to insist on sovereignty and
self-determination ought to be crushed by all means.
In the Hague the entire Yugoslav and Serb people are
being accused of resistance against neo-colonialism.
In defying these lies Milosevic proved to be a
steadfast advocate of his people restoring historic
truth about the Western imperialist aggression.
However, we will not forget his grave political
mistakes during his ten years defence against the
aggression. Unfortunately, he simply repeated these
mistakes in his defence: While Yugoslavia could have
easily crushed the pro-imperialist forces in Bosnia
and Croatia he chose to compromise with imperialism
in Dayton in 1995 betraying the democratic and
anti-fascist uprising of the local Serbs. Now he is
lamenting that imperialism is not rewarding this
sell-out. He opportunistically equated the Serbian
struggle against pro-imperialist Albanian
secessionism with the US war on ?terror? while
everybody knows that NATO?s attack on Yugoslavia was
an integral part of this very war, which is nothing
else than the US? attempt to retain global hegemony
by brute military force. With no single word he
asked his people for excuse for the widespread
corruption (the fact that under Djindjic-Kostunica
corruption has been growing to an unprecedented
extent does not alter this necessity) while!
he defended his wife and son who are regarded as
the worst examples of the red mafia. And last but
not least he did not mention the revolutionary
traditions of Yugoslavia embodied by the Partisan
movement.
Disband the political inquisition of the Hague!
Free Slobodan Milosevic and all other political
prisoners!
Put NATO to popular trial!
************************************
Antiimperialist Camp
PF 23, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
Tel&Fax +43 1 504 00 10
camp@...
www.antiimperialista.com/en
************************************
SECRETARY OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF SERBIA (SPS),
published on 2 March in the Internet addition of Halo
Noviny (Czech Republic).
Interviewer Jan Hrobar. Kindly translated from the
Czech by Colin Meade.
Q: You were recently in The Hague. Did you personally
meet President Milosevic?
Vladimir Krsljanin: Unfortunately not this time. The
'tribunal' restricts Milosevic, who is the President
of our party, to only one meeting a month, lasting a
few hours, with members of the party leadership. One
such took place about a month ago. I was present at
the opening of the 'trial' as a visitor. We sat in the
gallery behind a glass screen and could only wave to
him.
Q: What impression did Milosevic make on you?
V.K. He made an absolutely superior impression not
only on me, but perhaps on all those present. There
were about a thousand journalists there from the whole
world. I think we could agree on this assessment. This
impression was certainly strengthened by the fact that
Milosevic stood alone before the 'tribunal' which is a
huge machine in the service of NATO, but with
admirable fearlessness he put forward his defence and
defeated everything which the staff of NATO experts,
employing immense technical resources, had built up
over a period of months. I think that it is impossible
to exaggerate Milosevic's achievement.
Q: Milosevic has usually addressed the 'court' in
English. What language did he use in his defence
speech?
V.K.: Serbo-Croatian. He had spoken English in dealing
with some procedural issues at the start of the
process but gave up doing so and for the past few
months has only used Serbo-Croatian before the
'tribunal'. He continues to do so, and it couldn't be
otherwise because the main Serbian TV channel is
broadcasting direct from the 'courtroom' and Milosevic
is making full use of this to address the whole
nation.
Q: How did his speech go down in Belgrade?
V.K.: Let me give you some figures, which speak louder
than any words. At present, according to our polls,
77% of the citizens of the FRY are behind Milosevic.
They feel he is defending not only himself but the
whole nation, which has been denigrated and humiliated
in The Hague. 67% believe that Milosevic will win and
together with him truth and justice, that the Serbian
nation will be vindicated before the world.
Q: How long did Milosevic speak?
V.K.: For a total of eleven hours over three days. He
started speaking at the end of the second day (13
February), but only for about half an hour before the
'court' rose. Three more days were given over to
Milosevic's defence, but on two of those days, the
'court' only sat in the morning for three hours. An
hour or so of that time was taken up with the showing
of videos displaying crimes committed by NATO in the
aggression against the FRY.
Q: The foreign media used superlatives in describing
Milosevic's performance. Did you expect him to be so
brilliant?
V.K.: We expected him to speak very effectively. We
had seen how strongly he performed at his previous
appearances before the 'tribunal', the great weight of
each argument he used to show that the 'tribunal' is
an illegal manipulated instrument in the service of
NATO and of US policy in particular.
I have to say that Milosevic's cross-examination
surprised both his friends and his enemies. Parts of
his appearance were seen by an estimated billion
people. It is especially important that it left a
strong impression. The prevailing view now is that
Milosevic is a politician without equal not only in
Serbia but also the Balkans, that he is a political
figure of international stature. Everyone could
satisfy themselves of this.
Q: As a result of this impression, people have begun
to speculate about who helped Milosevic to prepare
such a convincing presentation. What do you think
about this?
V.K.: I'm being asked this question a lot at press
conferences. I think that two factors are working
together here. The force of Milosevic's personality,
his great intellectual powers, and the fact that he is
not alone, that behind him stands the whole of our
party, all genuine patriots and practically the whole
nation, and many friends around the world. He feels
this support and the responsibility to destroy with
his words every lie.
Q: In his political career, he showed himself to be a
capable economist and financier who succeeded in
taming runaway inflation. Did he also study law?
V.K.: Yes, he studied in Belgrade and was an
outstanding student. It is notable that the majority
of professors from his faculty are supporting him.
About 30 formed a group opposing the 'tribunal'. They
show its violation of legal norms and therefore the
illegality of the 'trial.' Many people from all walks
of life want to support President Milosevic and are
offering to testify to prove he is innocent and must
be released.
Q: Some observers are surprised at the fact that
Milosevic, even after long imprisonment, seems in
excellent physical and mental condition?.
V.K.: Yes, it's remarkable. When I met him about a
month ago, I was much impressed by his vitality. All
the more so because he is held in isolation in
conditions which destroy people's strength. In a tiny
cell with minimal facilities, exposed to constant
physical and also psychological pressure. The
awareness that he is struggling for justice for his
people gives him the boundless moral strength to
resist such destructive conditions?
You ask how I see the future of the 'trial'. I'm
convinced that his jailers and their NATO paymasters
are also preoccupied with these matters and are coming
to the conclusion that the way to beat him is to break
him physically. He has destroyed the prepared scenario
for the 'trial', exposed the weakness of their
fabricated arguments and the lies of their witnesses;
he has dazzled the public and he has gained the
backing of fair-minded people around the world. In the
predictions being made by the Hague 'tribunal' that
the 'trial' may last two years or even longer, I see
an attempt, through endless delays, to wear him down.
No one is made of iron; intolerable conditions can
destroy anyone. Milosevic is waging a battle in which
he deserves the support of all who believe in
democracy and care about truth and justice. Demand his
release so that he can defend himself in freedom! The
International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic
is supporting this demand in the context of the
broader demand that he be freed unconditionally and
the Tribunal be abolished. His jailers know that other
than physical abuse, they have no way to defeat him.
Milosevic's courage requires not only recognition and
admiration, but defence and support from all decent
people.
Posted in Czech at :
http://www.halonoviny.cz/encoding/toASCII/index.php?id=16090
Copyright "Halo Noviny"
===*===
Subject: Milosevic scored 1:0 against NATO in the Hague
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 02:49:16 -0600
From: camp@...
Organization: Antiimperialist Camp News
The corporate media does not know how to cope with
Milosevic?s accuse against NATO. In order to avoid a
collapse of the amalgam of lies, which have been
proven to be fakes by the ex president?s arguments,
these very same lies are being once again inflated
and endlessly repeated, for example:
The picture from Trnopolje, which suggests a Serbian
concentration camp by showing an emaciated man
behind a barbwire is displayed again and again on
all the TV screens of the world - despite the fact
that the photograph was taken from inside the fence.
A fact which actually should be known to the
journalists.
The alleged massacre of Racak, which was used as the
pretext to legitimate the NATO attack, has been
refuted by both Dr. Helena Ranta, head of the
forensic commission of OSCE, as well as of the
German General Heinz Loquai of the OSCE monitoring
mission in Kosovo. They proved the event to be a
skirmish between UCK and Yugoslav troops.
Milosevic continues to be presented as a
bloodthirsty monster to whose arguments one should
not listen (arguments which are often distorted or
not even reported).
Even if the front of the corporate media remains
firm, however, in front of all those who retain a
trace of critical thinking Milosevic succeeded in
defying NATO?s attempt to grant itself absolution by
a political inquisition process. He was even able to
put forward heavy charges against NATO:
· The tribunal is illegitimate as it was set
up by the aggressor states and furthermore violates
the UN statutes. The criminals pose as judges.
· The secessions instigated by the West under
the guise of the right to ?self-determination? has
led and was intended to lead towards a civil war as
the Yugoslav nationalities used to live completely
intermingled.
· The Serb had been denied the very same right
to self-determination in Croatia and Bosnia.
· Yugoslavia was the only conceivable peaceful
co-existence and self-determination of the different
nationalities.
· The manifold aggression against Yugoslavia
served the geo-strategic interest of the West.
Whoever dares to defy the tyranny of the ?New World
Order? and to insist on sovereignty and
self-determination ought to be crushed by all means.
In the Hague the entire Yugoslav and Serb people are
being accused of resistance against neo-colonialism.
In defying these lies Milosevic proved to be a
steadfast advocate of his people restoring historic
truth about the Western imperialist aggression.
However, we will not forget his grave political
mistakes during his ten years defence against the
aggression. Unfortunately, he simply repeated these
mistakes in his defence: While Yugoslavia could have
easily crushed the pro-imperialist forces in Bosnia
and Croatia he chose to compromise with imperialism
in Dayton in 1995 betraying the democratic and
anti-fascist uprising of the local Serbs. Now he is
lamenting that imperialism is not rewarding this
sell-out. He opportunistically equated the Serbian
struggle against pro-imperialist Albanian
secessionism with the US war on ?terror? while
everybody knows that NATO?s attack on Yugoslavia was
an integral part of this very war, which is nothing
else than the US? attempt to retain global hegemony
by brute military force. With no single word he
asked his people for excuse for the widespread
corruption (the fact that under Djindjic-Kostunica
corruption has been growing to an unprecedented
extent does not alter this necessity) while!
he defended his wife and son who are regarded as
the worst examples of the red mafia. And last but
not least he did not mention the revolutionary
traditions of Yugoslavia embodied by the Partisan
movement.
Disband the political inquisition of the Hague!
Free Slobodan Milosevic and all other political
prisoners!
Put NATO to popular trial!
************************************
Antiimperialist Camp
PF 23, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
Tel&Fax +43 1 504 00 10
camp@...
www.antiimperialista.com/en
************************************