"Vladimir Krsljanin" wrote:
Statement of the Presidium of the European Peace Forum (epf) on the
occasion of the anniversary of NATO aggression against Yugoslavia and
on the "Hague Tribunal"
Meeting of the Enlarged Presidium of the European Peace Forum,
Prague, March 21, 2003
For over a year now the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, the president of
the Socialist Party of Serbia and the long time president of Serbia
and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, has been going on before the
so-called International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
This trial in a court, which was established in violation of the UN
Charter, is designed to legitimize in the retrospect the illegal
interference of NATO states in the internal conflict of Yugoslavia,
their acts commited in order to disrupt the federation of six equal
republics, fostering civil war and followed by their aggression
against the Balkan country, and to shift the responsibility for the
crimes of the aggressors on the shoulders of the aggressed.
Despite the fact, that the chief prosecutor, appointed by NATO,
doesn't lack anything in terms of secret service assistance and
obvious partiality of the judges, political support of most of NATO
member states and subservient assistance from the rulers in Belgrade,
carefully selected and prepared witnesses as well as staff and money -
the court so far has spent more than one billion US-Dollars, many
times the amount assigned for "immediate assistance" to Serbia and
Montenegro - they have not succeeded in bringing Slobodan Milosevic to
his heels.
On the contrary, the accused, who became the symbol of resistance
against the disruption of Yugoslavia and against the dictate of
foreign powers and their war of aggression, despite being subjected to
intolerable conditions of prison detainment and court procedures, has
become the accuser of NATO. This is mainly, why this trial, which was
trumpeted as a war legitimizing show, in the coverage of quite a few
media has turned into a sort of secret trial, covering up the debacle
of the prosecutors and the sovereign stance of the accused defending
himself.
The political objectives to be served with this trial go far beyond
the former Yugoslavia and the Balkans. The leading power of NATO
patronizing this trial intends to demonstrate to the whole world by
way of example, that any resistance against the global ambitions of
the US will not be tolerated and will be punished without mercy.
States supporting politically the illegal Hague tribunal and also in
terms of staff and money, approving and promoting the trial against
the former Yugoslav President, are also supporting - willingly or
unwillingly - the hegemonial ambitions of the US, their threatening
approach towards the "Axis of Evil", their intention to reshape entire
regions of the world according to Washington's own taste and
geostrategic interests. In the same way the war against Yugoslavia has
prepared the war against the Iraqi People, the trial against Slobodan
Milosevic is meant to create a precedent for the masters of the
imperialist globalisation intending to deal with their present and
future opponents in a similar way.
Any person, who condemns the US-Government's plans for world
domination - whatever reason one might have for that condemnation - ,
any person who declares, as recently even did some NATO governments,
that it is impossible to accept that the strength of the law is
replaced by the law of the stronger one, such a person, if he or she
means to be honest, should not be able any longer to support the Hague
trial, which is instrumental in the abuse of the international law,
replacing it precicely by the law of the stronger one.
The international law can not be split up. It must apply in the
Balkans as well as in the Near and Middle East and anywhere in the
world. This is, what we are struggling for. Therefore on the eve of
the fourth aniversary of NATO agression against Yugoslavia we renew
our demands for:
· an immediate end of the trials of Slobodan Milosevic and
the other Yugoslavs accused as well as their immediate release,
· the dissolution of the International Criminal Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia which was established in breach of the UN
Charter
· the ratification, as soon as possible, by the United
States of America and other states of the Treaty of Rome establishing
a legally constituted International Criminal Court and an extension of
its jurisdiction in order to apply also to the crime of aggression and
other crimes against peace,
· the punishment of NATO leaders responsible for the war of
aggression against Yugoslavia,
· war reparations for Serbia and Montenegro,
· compensation for damage for war victims in those
countries.
In view of recent political developments in Serbia and Montenegro we
strongly condemn, that the the criminal investigations against the
supposed assassins of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic are being used as
an excuse by the Serbian Government in order to suspend fundametal
civil rights.
We demand:
· the immediate stop of the arbitrary and politically
motivated arrests,
· the garantee of all democratic rights for the indicted
individuals,
· the abolition of the censorship of the media and the
garantee of the unimpeded right to obtain information,
· the restauration of the freedom of association, the right
of assembly and the right to demonstrate publicly,
· the immediate end of the criminilization of political
opposition.
Prague, March 21, 2003
Statement of the Presidium of the European Peace Forum (epf) on the
occasion of the anniversary of NATO aggression against Yugoslavia and
on the "Hague Tribunal"
Meeting of the Enlarged Presidium of the European Peace Forum,
Prague, March 21, 2003
For over a year now the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, the president of
the Socialist Party of Serbia and the long time president of Serbia
and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, has been going on before the
so-called International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
This trial in a court, which was established in violation of the UN
Charter, is designed to legitimize in the retrospect the illegal
interference of NATO states in the internal conflict of Yugoslavia,
their acts commited in order to disrupt the federation of six equal
republics, fostering civil war and followed by their aggression
against the Balkan country, and to shift the responsibility for the
crimes of the aggressors on the shoulders of the aggressed.
Despite the fact, that the chief prosecutor, appointed by NATO,
doesn't lack anything in terms of secret service assistance and
obvious partiality of the judges, political support of most of NATO
member states and subservient assistance from the rulers in Belgrade,
carefully selected and prepared witnesses as well as staff and money -
the court so far has spent more than one billion US-Dollars, many
times the amount assigned for "immediate assistance" to Serbia and
Montenegro - they have not succeeded in bringing Slobodan Milosevic to
his heels.
On the contrary, the accused, who became the symbol of resistance
against the disruption of Yugoslavia and against the dictate of
foreign powers and their war of aggression, despite being subjected to
intolerable conditions of prison detainment and court procedures, has
become the accuser of NATO. This is mainly, why this trial, which was
trumpeted as a war legitimizing show, in the coverage of quite a few
media has turned into a sort of secret trial, covering up the debacle
of the prosecutors and the sovereign stance of the accused defending
himself.
The political objectives to be served with this trial go far beyond
the former Yugoslavia and the Balkans. The leading power of NATO
patronizing this trial intends to demonstrate to the whole world by
way of example, that any resistance against the global ambitions of
the US will not be tolerated and will be punished without mercy.
States supporting politically the illegal Hague tribunal and also in
terms of staff and money, approving and promoting the trial against
the former Yugoslav President, are also supporting - willingly or
unwillingly - the hegemonial ambitions of the US, their threatening
approach towards the "Axis of Evil", their intention to reshape entire
regions of the world according to Washington's own taste and
geostrategic interests. In the same way the war against Yugoslavia has
prepared the war against the Iraqi People, the trial against Slobodan
Milosevic is meant to create a precedent for the masters of the
imperialist globalisation intending to deal with their present and
future opponents in a similar way.
Any person, who condemns the US-Government's plans for world
domination - whatever reason one might have for that condemnation - ,
any person who declares, as recently even did some NATO governments,
that it is impossible to accept that the strength of the law is
replaced by the law of the stronger one, such a person, if he or she
means to be honest, should not be able any longer to support the Hague
trial, which is instrumental in the abuse of the international law,
replacing it precicely by the law of the stronger one.
The international law can not be split up. It must apply in the
Balkans as well as in the Near and Middle East and anywhere in the
world. This is, what we are struggling for. Therefore on the eve of
the fourth aniversary of NATO agression against Yugoslavia we renew
our demands for:
· an immediate end of the trials of Slobodan Milosevic and
the other Yugoslavs accused as well as their immediate release,
· the dissolution of the International Criminal Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia which was established in breach of the UN
Charter
· the ratification, as soon as possible, by the United
States of America and other states of the Treaty of Rome establishing
a legally constituted International Criminal Court and an extension of
its jurisdiction in order to apply also to the crime of aggression and
other crimes against peace,
· the punishment of NATO leaders responsible for the war of
aggression against Yugoslavia,
· war reparations for Serbia and Montenegro,
· compensation for damage for war victims in those
countries.
In view of recent political developments in Serbia and Montenegro we
strongly condemn, that the the criminal investigations against the
supposed assassins of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic are being used as
an excuse by the Serbian Government in order to suspend fundametal
civil rights.
We demand:
· the immediate stop of the arbitrary and politically
motivated arrests,
· the garantee of all democratic rights for the indicted
individuals,
· the abolition of the censorship of the media and the
garantee of the unimpeded right to obtain information,
· the restauration of the freedom of association, the right
of assembly and the right to demonstrate publicly,
· the immediate end of the criminilization of political
opposition.
Prague, March 21, 2003