Milosevic "trial", August 2003
1. Sloba supporters banned from visiting The Hague (19/8)
2. SPS congratulates Milosevic his birthday (20/8)
3. "TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: FIRST SREBRENICA WITNESS TESTIFIES AGAINST
MILOSEVIC (25/8)
Includes a Trascript of Milosevic speaking about Srebrenica dated
September 27, 2002
4. "TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: AUG. 26 2003 - COLM DOYLE TESTIFIES AGAINST
MILOSEVIC
5. MILOSEVIC "TRIAL" REPORT: SYNOPSIS FOR AUGUST 27, 2003
6. SYNOPSIS OF THE DAY'S PROCEEDINGS: AUGUST 28, 2003
7. "TRIAL" REPORT: SYNOPSIS FOR AUGUST 29, 2003
---
Useful Links to Transcripts and Videos of Milosevic 'Trial'
Transcripts:
Go to http://www.un.org/icty/transe54/transe54.htm
Video:
Live English Video Feed
http://www.domovina.net/Icty/eng/room1.ram
Live Serbo-Croatian Video Feed
http://www.domovina.net/Icty/bcs/room1.ram
Archives - English http://hague.bard.edu/video.html
Archives - Serbo-Croatian http://tribunal.freeserbia.com
=== 1 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/tanjug081903c.htm
Socialists embittered by ban to visit Milosevic
Tanjug - August 19, 2003
17:38 BELGRADE - The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) on Tuesday voiced
strong protest with a decision of the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) administration to ban the visits of
its representatives and the Association Freedom for SPS president and
former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, announcing it would
employ all mechanisms aimed at suspending this decision.
The ICTY administration is "trying to explain" this decision by
statements SPS members made after their recent visit to Milosevic at
the Scheveningen detention unit, the party said in a statement and
added that this was really "an excuse aimed at placing president
Milosevic in complete isolation."
Copyright 2003 Tanjug News Agency
Posted For Fair Use Only
---
FoNet, August 20, 2003
Sloba supporters banned from visiting The Hague
BELGRADE -- Wednesday -- The Hague Tribunal is
reported to have banned members of the Socialist Party
of Serbia and the Sloboda (Freedom) Movement from
visiting Slobodan Milosevic, according to Sloboda
Association member Vladimir Krsljanin.
Speaking at a press conference on the occasion of the
former Yugoslav and Serbian President's birthday,
Krsljanin produced a letter from the international
tribunal's administration addressed to Milosevic,
which states that the ban, to be implemented until
further notice, is a result of a media statement given
in breach of court regulations.
The statement was made by Socialist Party delegation
members Milorad Vucelic and Zoran Andjelkovic during
their last visit to the Scheveningen detention centre,
where Milosevic is being held. They gave the statement
to press despite being forewarned that such a move was
against tribunal rules.
Krsljanin protested: "This is hideous manipulation and
an injustice because it is not in line with the rules
of the tribunal".
He stressed that a "legal battle" for the decision to
be overturned would ensue.
The press conference was followed by the holding of a
"Free Serbia" debate and the screening of a
documentary entitled "Defeated Hague", which were to
mark Milosevic's birthday.
=== 2 ===
SPS congratulates Milosevic his birthday
17:14 BELGRADE , Aug 20 (Tanjug) - The Socialist Party
of Serbia said on Wednesday that it sent a
congratulatory message to the preasident of that party
Slobodan Milosevic, who is standing trial in the war
crimes tribunal at The Hague, on the occasion of his
62nd birthday.
SPS said in the message it wished that "the fight he
is leading in The Hague, in the name of national and
state interets, will be victorious, because it is
important for the future of our state and of our people."
---
Send your solidarity messages to:
PRESIDENT
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
UN Detention Unit
Postbus 87810
2508 Den Haag
Pomp Stations Weg 32
The Neteherlands
=== 3 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg082503.htm
"TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: FIRST SREBRENICA WITNESS TESTIFIES AGAINST MILOSEVIC
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - Originally posted August 25, 2003 -
UPDATED August 26, 2003
Written By: Andy Wilcoxson
The first Srebrenica witness has testified against President Milosevic
at The Hague tribunal. At this point it is important to be reminded of
the case President Milosevic is putting with regard to Srebrenica and
so I will now quote from his opening statement.
TRANSCRIPT - Page 10309 Line 12 - Friday September 27, 2002
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: I wish to avail myself of the remaining time to
say a few words about Srebrenica that was mentioned here. I have
already said that I first heard about this -- I said this six months
ago, when I first spoke here, that I first heard about this from Carl
Bildt and that Radovan Karadzic swore to me that he didn't know a
thing about this. All subsequent information corroborated that,
including the subsequently published main report of the Dutch
government published in April 2001. In item 10, it says quite
literally: "There are no indications that the action was taken out in
collaboration with Belgrade, neither in terms of political or military
coordination. In this way, gentlemen, as far as I'm concerned, an end
could be brought to this, but I don't want to place a full stop there.
I want the truth to be revealed with regard to this insane crime, in
the interest of justice. It has to be explained before the world
public. The information that I have compiled so far, and there will be
more to come, speaks of how Izetbegovic used Srebrenica for all kinds
of manipulations and held it in -- in his own reserve for various
political bargains. And you saw from the statement made by a member of
his delegation in the report that was accepted by the UN with regard
to the takeover of Srebrenica, the handover of Srebrenica. You saw all
of this.
Time will show that on the 1st of July, 1995, in the house of a Muslim,
the former president of the municipality in Zvornik, where two members
of the Muslim government from Sarajevo were present, the
representatives of a mercenary military formation within the army of
Republika Srpska but not under the command of the army of Republika
Srpska but within the French intelligence service, they agreed to have
this crime committed, that is to say, to abandon Srebrenica and to
carry out this slaughter.
All information shows that General Mladic knew nothing about this, nor
General Krstic, who was sentenced here. I am personally convinced that
the military honour of Mladic or Krstic would not allow them to
execute civilians, let alone Mladic, Krstic, generals who throughout
the war made a maximum effort to protect prisoners of war and
civilians at all times.
This mercenary unit was commanded by the same people who sent those
same persons only one year later to Zaire so that they would protect
Mobutu and crush a rebellion. This same organisation organised the
purchase of arms a year later. And since I asked you to adopt a writ
of disclosure, please do that. Those people who have a salary for that
and have hundreds of associates, make them as Jacques Chirac and the
French intelligence service and the American intelligence service and
all other intelligence services, let them disclose all the facts they
have on Srebrenica. The information I have available shows that the
point of the agreement reached was the following: The underlying
French idea was that the war in Bosnia should be ended through
effective actions taken by NATO and through military engagement. As a
pretext for military engagement, genocide that will be carried out by
the Serbs will be made up, and the Serb negotiating side will have to
deal with that. The presence of Ratko Mladic in Srebrenica will be
used as a confirmation of the responsibility of the military leadership
and of Mladic himself for having an indictment issued against him in
The Hague by making it appear that a genocide was carried out and
anathema will be placed on the leadership of the Bosnian Serbs and
then the international community will take measures. The protagonists
will not be prosecuted.
One insignificant one, a member of the Croat detachments of death who
happened to be there was accused, and then for the crimes in
Srebrenica, Ratko Mladic should be accused and also the leadership of
Republika Srpska headed by Radovan Karadzic. And this agreement was
attended by two representatives of the Muslim government, that out of
the French, General Janvier was there for sure, and this other person
was said to be Morillon but this was not confirmed. There is no
reliable information saying that it was Morillon.
The agreement was that Srebrenica should be surrendered to the Serbs
practically without any fighting, as forthwith withdraw and in that way
make it possible for them to purportedly take over Srebrenica. Naser
Oric is going to withdraw and award for the action will be 2 million
Deutschmark.
Mladic was not at that meeting. He was having lunch with those generals
later on at the Likovac locality, but according to intelligence data,
he did not know what the subject agreed upon was, and he didn't know
that he was commanding all the units that took part in that,
especially the one that was sent to Zaire later on by the same people
that ordered the job to be done. Oric lives in Lukavac near Tuzla
today. He has a restaurant on the lake and he destroyed more than 70
villages around Srebrenica and that he is one of the greatest criminals
in the war.
///END TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT///
Another important point to make before presenting the synopsis of the
day's events is that "the Srebrenica massacre" referred to in this
article is not the same Srebrenica massacre that the media has been
going on about for the last 8 years.
The media's claim that the Srebrenica massacre was an act of genocide
perpetrated by the Serbs is a lie. There was indeed a massacre at
Srebrenica, but as I am confident that Slobodan Milosevic will prove,
it is not the way that the media has put it. This was a massacre
perpetrated by a multi-ethnic mercenary unit that was under French
control, not under the control of VRS general staff.
Drazen Erdemovic is the first witness to testify at the so-called
"trial" of Slobodan Milosevic about the horrific events that took
place in Srebrenica. Erdemovic is an ethnic Croat from the Bosnian town
of Tuzla. His career throughout the Bosnian war is rather odd. He was
originally a member of the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army), then he
joined the ABiH (Bosnian Muslim "Army of Bosnia - Herzegovina"), after
that he joined the HVO (Croatian Army), finally he wound up a member
of the VRS (Army of Republika Srpska) serving in the 10th Sabotage
Division.
As a mercenary in the 10th Sabotage Division, Erdemovic participated a
cold blooded massacre of 1,200 Bosnian Muslims at the Pilca Farm near
Srebrenica. By his own admission, Erdemovic personally massacred over
100 Bosnian Muslim men ranging in age between 18 and 60.
In March of 1996 Erdemovic was arrested by the authorities of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia precisely because of his participation
in that massacre at Srebrenica. Because Erdemovic was not a citizen of
the FRY, the Yugoslav authorities honored an extradition request of
the Hague Tribunal and sent Erdemovic to The Hague.
When Erdemovic arrived at the Hague he coped a plea agreement, which
allowed him to get off with only a 5 year prison sentence, even though
he admitted to personally murdering 100 people and participating in the
slaughter of 1,200. In a further act of insult to the victims of his
killing spree, the Hague Tribunal granted Erdemovic early release so
that he didn't even have to serve the whole 5 years.
In addition to getting off with only a slap on the wrist for killing a
hundred people, Erdemovic doesn't even have to live with the shame of
being known as a mass murderer. He has been given a new identity, and
his testimony today was given with protective measures; the video of
his face was obscured so that nobody could recognize his face, and
voice distortion technology was used so that nobody would even
recognize his voice.
It is obvious just from seeing this that the Hague Tribunal exists to
protect the real war criminals and while simultaneously persecuting
the innocent.
Erdemovic's testimony was quite interesting to say the least. The 10th
Sabotage Division, which carried out the massacre, was a multi-ethnic
unit according to Erdemovic. The unit contained Muslims, Croats,
Slovenes, and some Bosnian Serbs.
Erdemovic stated categorically that he saw no Yugoslav or Serbian
personnel in or around Srebrenica at the time in question. There was
only his unit and some local groups, but nobody from the Government of
either Serbia or Yugoslavia. Erdemovic, echoing the conclusions of the
Dutch Government, saw nothing that would indicate any participation by
Belgrade in the planning or execution of the Srebrenica massacre.
It is completely out of the question that President Milosevic could
have had anything to do with the tragic events in Srebrenica. The only
attempt to "link" Milosevic to the events in Srebrenica came when
Erdemovic claimed to have spoken to an unnamed member of the Serbian
MUP at the Military Hospital in Belgrade.
Erdemovic claimed that this alleged MUP officer told him that he had
participated in the attack on Srebrenica. The only problem is that
Erdemovic didn't remember this tidbit until November 3, 2001, and
remember he had been in the custody of the Hague Tribunal since 1996,
but he never mentioned that until 2001.
The contentious point between President Milosevic and Mr. Erdemovic
was over who was responsible for ordering the massacre. Erdemovic
claimed that the orders "must have" come from the General Staff of the
VRS.
Erdemovic never saw any orders from the General Staff. Erdemovic says
that he was ordered to carry out the executions by a unit commander
named Gojikovic who had allegedly claimed to have gotten his orders
from some unknown Lt. Colonel from the Drina Corps of the VRS.
To counter the Erdemovic's claim that the order to carry out this
hideous crime "must have" come from the General Staff of the VRS;
President Milosevic produced the orders issued by the General Staff of
the VRS, pertaining to Srebrenica, which explicitly stated that
civilians must be protected and that the laws and customs of war had
to be abided by.
Erdemovic denied any knowledge of any foreign involvement in the
Srebrenica tragedy. However, he did admit to some odd goings on.
First of all, Erdemovic, claimed to have no idea how much he was
personally paid, which raises the red flag that he may have been
receiving money other than the normal VRS salary, which along with the
fact that he fought at one point or another for every side in the war,
would indicate that he was in fact a mercenary.
Erdemovic also claimed that he had heard from his wife that a
commander of the 10th Sabotage Division named Pelimic had received a
large quantity of gold from unknown persons, and that after the war
this Pelimic was living the high life and having jewel incrusted gold
chains made for himself at jewelry stores. Erdemovic admitted that
this information even made him suspect that somebody had bribed the
commanders of his unit so that they would perpetrate that horrific
crime at Srebrenica.
Erdemovic also testified that he had heard about some members of the
10th Sabotage Division, including Pelimic, subsequently going to
France in order to become mercenaries in Zaire, after the end of the
Bosnian war, which jives with what Milosevic said in his opening
statement.
I don't know when or if Erdemovic's testimony will continue. The
so-called "trial chamber" went into closed session at the end of the
hearing to decide, and so I guess we will see tomorrow, but they did
not intend to keep this witness more than 1 day.
SYNOPSIS OF THE PROCEEDINGS FOR AUGUST 25 2003
1. Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice Examines the witness Drazen Erdemovic.
2. President Slobodan Milosevic cross-examines the witness Drazen
Erdemovic
=== 4 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg082603.htm
"TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: AUG. 26 2003 - COLM DOYLE TESTIFIES AGAINST MILOSEVIC
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - August 26, 2003
The Hague Tribunal heard testimony from Colm Doyle today. The former
Irish army major served as head of the European Community's monitoring
mission in Sarajevo, and later on as the special envoy of Lord
Carrington, he was also the chairman of the EC conference on Yugoslavia.
Even though Mr. Doyle was at the Hague to testify against Milosevic;
his testimony did not incriminate Milosevic in the least. The only
part of Doyle's testimony that had anything at all to do with
Milosevic was his testimony about a meeting he had with President
Milosevic in Belgrade on 16 June 1992. According to Doyle, Milosevic
expressed strong support for the peace process. Doyle claimed that
Milosevic reiterated his position that the violence and bloodshed
should be stopped and that the only solution for Bosnia was a solution
which was fair to all 3 sides, and which all 3 sides could agree on.
Doyal said that Milosevic expressed strong support for Radovan
Karadzic's proposal that UN observers should be attached to all units
of the Bosnian-Serb Army. He said that Milosevic condemned the
shelling of Sarajevo and pledged to do what he could to assist the
peace process.
So, the only evidence that the prosecution brought against President
Milosevic with this witness was that he wanted to stop the Bosnian war
and find a solution that was fair to all 3 sides. I guess working to
stop a war is what makes one a war criminal at the Hague Tribunal.
Even though the rest of Mr. Doyle's testimony had absolutely nothing
to do with President Milosevic, parts of it were quite interesting.
The most interesting tidbit was Doyle's testimony about how the
Bosnian parliament reached its decision to hold the referendum on
succession from Yugoslavia.
According to Doyle, on or about the 15th of October 1991 the speaker
of the Bosnian parliament adjourned the parliament for the night at
around 3:30 in the morning. After the Serb MPs had gone home for the
night, the Muslim and Croat MPs reconvened the parliament and passed
the decision that the referendum on succession should be held.
To put it bluntly, the Muslim and Croat MPs tricked the Serb MPs into
leaving the debate on the referendum question by fraudulently
adjourning the parliament and then fraudulently reconvening it again
after the Serbs had left for the night. After the Serbs had gone home,
falsely believing that the parliament was in fact adjourned, the Muslim
and Croat MPs, who remained fraudulently reconvened the parliament and
passed the decision to hold a referendum on succession, without the
consent of the Serb MPs.
President Milosevic asked Mr. Doyle if he considered that this
decision of the parliament was made lawfully or not. Doyle didn't
really know what to say at this point, because the answer is so
obvious. Doyle's answer was ultimately that he didn't know.
Another interesting piece of information came when Doyal spoke of a
peace conference that he was at with Radovan Karadzic in Lisbon.
During that peace conference a number of Muslim civilians were killed
while waiting in a breadline in Sarajevo. Karadzic immediately swore to
Cutileiro that the Bosnian Serbs didn't perpetrate that crime.
According to Doyle, Cutileiro's response to Karadzic was that the
Bosnian Serbs would be publicly blamed whether they perpetrated that
massacre or not. Cutilero then told Karadzic that his only option was
to "make a public gesture of good will" by handing over control of the
Sarajevo Airport.
Moreover, the Muslim representative used the breadline massacre as an
excuse to walk out of the negotiations and the negotiations failed.
As it turns out the Bosnian Serbs did not perpetrate that massacre.
Slobodan Milosevic quoted from an article in the London Independent
entitled "Muslims 'slaughter their own people'," dated 8/22/92.
According to the article "United Nations officials and senior Western
military officers believe some of the worst killings in Sarajevo,
including the massacre of at least 16 people in a bread queue, were
carried out by the city's mainly Muslim defenders -- not Serb
besiegers -- as a propaganda ploy to win world sympathy and military
intervention. . . . Classified reports to the UN force commander,
General Satish Nambiar, concluded . . . that Bosnian forces loyal to
President Alija Izetbegovic may have detonated a bomb. 'We believe it
was a command-detonated explosion, probably in a can,' a UN official
said then. 'The large impact which is there now is not necessarily
similar or anywhere near as large as we came to expect with a mortar
round landing on a paved surface.'"
Doyle claimed that he didn't know anything about that, but he didn't
attempt to refute it either. He simply said that he didn't personally
know who was responsible.
President Milosevic will continue his cross-examination of Mr. Doyle
tomorrow. The troika has granted him 1 hour and 5 minutes to complete
his cross-examination. After he concludes the Amicus Curiae will be
given 15 to 20 minutes for cross-examination.
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS:
1. Witness Colm Doyle was examined by the prosecutor Geoffrey Nice.
2. Witness Colm Doyle was cross-examined by President Slobodan
Milosevic.
=== 5 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg082703.htm
MILOSEVIC "TRIAL" REPORT: SYNOPSIS FOR AUGUST 27, 2003
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - August 27, 2003
Written by: Andy Wilcoxson
The proceedings today began with the conclusion of Slobodan
Milosevic's cross-examination of Colm Doyle. President Milosevic and
the Amicus Curiae Tapuskovic both asked Doyle a number of questions
regarding reports of events that the Canadian Major-General Lewis
MacKenzie (UN Commander in Bosnia) had sent to Lt Gen Satish Nambiar at
the UN Headquarters in New York.
Amazingly, Doyle who headed the European Community's observation
mission in Bosnia had no idea about any of the numerous events that
Milosevic and Tapuskovic asked him about on the basis of MacKenzie's
reports, all of which had to do with Muslim attacks and provocations
against Serbs.
A humorous event came when Milosevic asked Doyle whether he was aware
of the position that the US State Department and the European
Parliament (which is an organ of the EC) took in 1991. That position
was that the SFRY should remain one single unified state and that the
secessionist republics should not be recognized. Doyle confirmed that
he was aware that that was the position which was taken.
Milosevic then asked Doyle how come the US and the EC recognized the
secessionists anyway, in spite of their publicly stated position.
Doyle said that he didn't know, and that he didn't ask. Milosevic
asked Doyle if he considered it to be hypocritical for the US and the
EC to say one thing and then do exactly the opposite. Before Doyle
could answer the question, the so-called "jugde" May jumped in and
instructed Doyle that he didn't have to answer the question.
It was obvious from Doyle's testimony that the Muslims had weapons
from the outset of the war. The Muslims were not unarmed, like they
are fond of claiming.
The beginning of the war came when the Muslims, after announcing the
results of their illegal referendum on succession, famously attacked a
Serb wedding party in Sarajevo, killing the groom on the steps of the
Orthodox Church. Doyle said that after that attack, tensions
increased, and the Serbs erected barricades in Sarajevo, which the
Muslims then fired upon (with the weapons that they claim never to
have had).
After Doyle was concluded the witness Stepjan Kraljevic was called.
Kraljevic was a municipal official from the town of Ilok, Croatia.
Kraljevic painted a picture where the JNA, for no reason, expelled the
population of Ilok. But, when Milosevic cross-examined Kraljevic it
became obvious that this witness was given to exaggeration.
Milosevic showed an agreement that Kraljevic and others from Ilok had
signed with the JNA. The agreement stated that the JNA would do its
best to protect all people who wished to remain in Ilok, but that the
JNA would also help the people who wished to leave Ilok to leave
safely. Ilok is near to Vukovar and there was heavy fighting in the
area, so there were people who wanted to leave, in fact the JNA
reached the agreement because the citizens requested it.
The witness, on the other hand, tried to present this agreement by the
JNA to protect people if they wished to leave the town as a sort of
expulsion by the JNA.
The witness viewed the JNA's demand that the T.O. should turn over its
weapons in accordance with the decision of the SFRY presidency as a
sort of provocation by the JNA, even though the witness admitted that
this demand only came after the Ilok police (who issued the T.O. their
weapons in the first place) fired on and destroyed a JNA tank with a
rocket launcher. But then again the witness did not consider the JNA
to be the legal armed force of the SFRY in 1991.
Mr. Kraljevic also produced a document called "Civilian Victims of the
Homeland War" which he presented as some sort of evidence against
Milosevic. In this document of his numerous "victims" had their cause
of death listed as things such as traffic accidents and suicide. So now
I guess, according to this witness, if somebody gets into a car wreck
or decides to kill themselves that is Milosevic's fault.
The next witness was a secret witness code named "C-1175." "C-1175"
claimed to have been a member of the Serbian T.O. in Dalj, Croatia.
His claim was that he saw the T.O. there commit some crimes.
"C-1175" claimed that all of the members of the Serbian T.O. in Dalj
were local Serbs and Hungarians. Since they were all locals, living in
Croatia, it is clear that Slobodan Milosevic, who was the president of
Serbia, could not have had anything to do with whether or not the T.O.
there committed any crimes there or not. So, even if the crimes that
the witness enumerated really happened they still wouldn't have
anything to do with Milosevic.
"C-1175's" testimony wasn't completely useless. "C-1175" did establish
that it was the Croats and not the Serbs who initiated the clashes and
ultimately started the war in Croatia.
"C-1175" testified that already in March and April of 1991 the Croats
had formed squads to terrorize Serbs and carryout so-called "silent
liquidations." "C-1175" also testified that the Croats perpetrated
numerous crimes on Serb property.
"C-1175" testified that before the war the Croatian police were
arresting Serbs without cause and taking them away and beating them
up."C-1175" should be concluded tomorrow. The troika has given
President Milosevic 45 more minutes to complete his cross-examination.
Sequence of Events - AUGUST 27, 2003
1. President Milosevic concluded his cross-examination of Colm Doyle.
2. Amicus Curiae Tapuskovic cross-examined Colm Doyle.
3. Prosecutor Nice re-examined Colm Doyle.
5. Prosecutor Saxon called Stepjan Kraljevic and examined him.
6. President Milosevic cross-examined Stepjan Kraljevic.
7. Amicus Curiae Tapuskovic cross-examined Stepjan Kraljevic.
8. Prosecutor Saxon re-examined Stepjan Kraljevic.
9. Prosecutor Uertz-Retzlaff called the secret witness "C-1175" and
examined him.
10. President Milosevic began his cross-examination of the secret
witness "C-1175."
=== 6 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg082803.htm
SYNOPSIS OF THE DAY'S PROCEEDINGS: AUGUST 28, 2003
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - August 28, 2003
Written by: Andy Wilcoxson
Today was a marathon day at The Hague Tribunal. 5 different witnesses
testified. The day began with the conclusion of the secret witness
"C-1175." As you may remember from yesterday "C-1175" was a member of
the Serbian T.O. in Dalj. He was a member of the T.O. for only one
month before he quit. He left because of his regular job, and because
he was angry at the T.O. commander because he wouldn't give him a fuel
voucher.
"C-1175" established that the prison in Dalj was set up and ran by the
T.O., and not by the JNA. As you may remember from yesterday the Dalj
T.O. was made up exclusively of locals. The JNA had nothing whatsoever
to do with the Dalj prison.
"C-1175" testified the day before about a group of men that had been
taken to a farm and killed. These men were brought to the farm from
Borovo Celo and killed by a group of civilians, not by the T.O., not by
the police, and not by the JNA.
"C-1175" spoke of a chaotic situation were people would appoint
themselves as the police, he referred to these people as "space
police." All in all the war just sounded like a mess, but one thing
was certain about C-1175's testimony, Slobodan Milosevic didn't have
anything to do with anything that this witness testified about.
After "C-1175" finished another secret witness, a woman from Vukovar,
testified under the pseudonym of "C-1071."
"C-1071" lost her husband during the war. The JNA evacuated the
witness and her family from Vukovar along with some of their
neighbors, she went directly to Serbia, but her husband had to stay
behind to be checked by the JNA.
The witness confirmed that the JNA had in fact evacuated the people
for their own protection, and not because of any other reason, and she
testified that she never saw the JNA doing anything that was illegal.
According to an unnamed person that the witness knew, who was being
checked by the JNA at the same time as her husband, the JNA took the
men to a facility in Dalj to be checked. Her husband checked-out OK and
was released by the JNA.
Her husband was supposed to come and find her with their relatives in
Serbia after the JNA released him. Unfortunately, he never made it.
"C-1071" went to Dalj to investigate and try to find out what had
happened to her husband. She found out in the course of speaking with
people in Dalj that her husband had been attacked by a group of
civilians after he was released by the JNA. His body was later found
in a wooded area outside of town.
This is certainly a sad story that this woman lost her husband, but I
fail to see what a group of civilian criminals who exploit a chaotic
situation in a war, has to do with Milosevic. After all, he certainly
didn't start the fighting in Vukovar. This witness testified that
fighting only began in Vukovar after the Croats had blockaded the JNA
barracks there.
Had there been no fighting in Vukovar there would never have been a
need for any of this.
The next witness was a senile old Croat woman from Saboska named Anna
Bitunic. She lost her husband too. She testified that her husband and
some other men were shot by her house.
One minor problem with her testimony was that she had no idea who had
shot her husband and the other men. She said it was men in uniforms,
and so Milosevic asked her who's uniforms were they wearing? T.O.
uniforms, JNA uniforms, or some other uniforms? Mrs. Bitunic did not
know what sort of uniform that the people who shot her husband were
wearing, she was at a loss. She had no idea who did it.
It is too bad that this woman lost her husband, but it could be seen
from her testimony that she was half-crazy. She said that the Serbs
were happy after the referendum in Croatia because they wanted to
create "greater-Serbia" and that they were "happy because they could
kill whoever they wanted to," and other such nonsense.
Obviously, with no idea who even committed the crime that she was
testifying about; her testimony can be viewed as nothing other than a
completely irrelevant waste of time that has nothing to do with
Milosevic, or anybody else.
Actually, all of the testimony that has to do with Bosnia and Croatia
is an irrelevant waste of time, as far as Milosevic is concerned,
because Slobodan Milosevic was the president of Serbia and didn't have
any command over any of the combatants in either Bosnia or Croatia.
After Mrs. Bitunic finished a man named Luka Shutalo was called. Mr.
Shutalo was from Erdut, Croatia. He escaped from the war zone in 1991
by going to Serbia, where it just so happened that Slobodan Milosevic
was the president, and guess what happened to him in Serbia? Nothing.
Nobody did anything to him. He was free to do as he wished in Serbia.
In spite of the fact that going to Milosevic's Serbia "saved his
neck," this witness nonetheless blamed Milosevic and what he called
the "Yugo Army" (meaning the JNA) for everything.
This guy actually thought that it was Milosevic who was in command of
the JNA. Milosevic asked the witness what on Earth would make him
think that he was the commander of the JNA, but before the witness
could answer, the so-called "judge" May jumped in and told the witness
not to answer, and Milosevic not to ask those sorts of questions.
Mr. Shuralo claimed that he had been taken prisoner and that he was
mistreated at the prison in Dalj, which he said was not even ran by
what he considered to be "Milosevic's Yugo Army." This was nothing but
more irrelevant testimony that again had nothing to do with Milosevic.
It is amazing to me to watch so much time being wasted on irrelevant
witnesses that don't even attempt to prove anything against Milosevic.
This makes it all the more absurd that the so-called "trial" chamber
gave the prosecution all of that extra time to "present evidence,"
which is something that they might want to consider doing some time.
So far there has been no real evidence presented against Milosevic.
Nothing that that so-called "prosecution" has done so far even comes
close to proving that Milosevic is guilty of anything.
The last witness to testify was another Croatia witness named Josip
Jocipovic. He was another 92-bis witness. The prosecutor read out a
summary of his statement about some alleged events in Hrvatska Dubica,
but he has not been cross-examined yet.
However from just what the prosecutor said I can see that this is
another witness who does not have anything at all to do with Milosevic.
This whole day, like many days before it, was a total waste of time
for the prosecution. Slobodan Milosevic has successfully defeated the
prosecution with every witness.
=== 7 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg082903.htm
"TRIAL" REPORT: SYNOPSIS FOR AUGUST 29, 2003
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - August 29, 2003
Another secret witness testified today at the Hague Tribunal. B-1054 a
Muslim woman from a village near Visegrad testified that she was taken
to a house in Visegrad along with 70 other Muslims. According to this
woman, Serb civilians from Visegrad attempted to burn them all alive in
that house.
For the sake of argument, we will start by assuming that she was
telling the truth. Even if this happened, and even if it happened
exactly in the way that she said it did; it proves nothing. This woman
did not allege that anybody from Serbia, or anybody from the JNA even
took part in this alleged crime. It is therefore clear that Slobodan
Milosevic could not have had anything at all to do with this.
Her two written statements, her previous testimony from another trial,
and the testimony that she gave today did not all fit together very
well. There were a number of discrepancies.
For example, she claimed to have been laid-up in the hospital for 22
days, but her medical report revealed that she was only in the
Hospital for 10 days. She had exaggerated her time in the hospital by
more than double.
She was inconsistent again as to how the alleged fire started in the
House. One time she said it was a bomb that ignited the fire, and
another time she said that somebody had just lit a match.
In her second statement she spoke of an alleged massacre that "a band
of Chetniks" was committing on the river. According to this witness
"the slaughter was so horrible that it made the river run red with
blood." However, in her first statement she neglects to mention that
minor detail. When asked how come she didn't mention it in her first
statement her excuse was that it "was just too horrible to speak of."
She has no problem speaking in her first statement about other
horrible things. She spoke all about how she lay wounded in a sewage
ditch near to the allegedly burning house listening to the screams of
people who were allegedly being burned alive, and that wasn't "too
horrible to speak of," but apparently seeing some corpses in a river
was.
Her statements were also inconsistent with respect to the names of
people that she claimed to have seen at certain places.
Another problem with her testimony was that she claimed that everybody
had died in that house, by either being burned in the fire, or shot
while trying to flee. She even said that she thought that her own son
had died. However, she later said that she found her son alive and
well 5 years later on. So how could she know that everybody else died?
She thought that her own son was dead for 5 years, but he wasn't.
An entertaining moment came when the Amicus Curiae, Mr. Tapuskovic and
the so-called "judge" May got into a fight. "Judge" May became quite
indignant when Mr. Tapuskovic dared to peruse a line of questioning
that called the truthfulness of this witness's testimony into question.
Tapuskovic was asking questions about inconsistencies in the witness's
evidence. The witness responded by getting indignant. For example,
when Tapusokvic asked her how she could know that everybody was killed
when her own son was even able to flee without her knowledge. She
responded indignantly by saying, "So you say that my son should have
been killed too! Is that it?"
After this little exchange Tapuskovic and Milosevic both gave the
so-called "judge" a lesson in law. During his fight with Mr.
Tapuskovic, the so-called "judge" claimed that "the accused hasn't
even challenged this evidence" (even though he had), and so President
Milosevic had to explain to this so-called "judge" that he had no way
of knowing if the event in questioned had happened or not, but it
wasn't him, as the accused, who had the burden of proving that it
didn't happen -- rather it was the prosecution who had the burden of
proving that it did happen.
After President Milosevic had explained, to this pathetic excuse of a
"judge," the concept of "innocent until proven guilty," which appears
to be completely foreign to "Dick" May. Mr. Tapuskovic had to explain
to this idiot what his job was in the first place. Mr. Tapuskovic
explained to that crimson robe-wearing fool that as a judge his job is
to sit and listen to the evidence and then decide, after hearing all
of the evidence, if the witness is telling the truth or not.
Mr. Tapuskovic was clearly astonished that "judge" May considered it
inappropriate to ask questions that challenged a witness's
credibility. What is the point of cross-examination if not to challenge
the witness? Tapuskovic explained that he had been a lawyer for 40
years, and had never seen a judge that would prevent these sorts of
questions.
After Mr. Tapuskovic finished his cross-examination, the so-called
"judge," who clearly had no other motive than just a desire to be a
smart-ass, said to the witness, "It has been suggested that you may not
be telling the truth. Have you been lying to us?" and the witness
surprised everybody by saying, "Of course I have been telling the
truth." At that point "judge" May let the witness go.
The next witness was Josip Jocipovic. Mr. Jocipovic had been examined
by prosecutor Bauer the day before, and so President Milosevic went
directly into cross-examination.
Like so many other witnesses this witness's testimony had nothing to
do with President Milosevic. The closest he came was when he said that
two men, who he couldn't identify, allegedly told him that they had
been fighting in Vukovar and that they were from Serbia.
Other than that he testified about a couple of men from the Krajina
police who committed some crimes. However, after they had committed
the crimes they were removed by Milan Martic.
He did however give some useful testimony. He was a member of the ZNG,
and to the dismay of Ms. Bauer, he testified that the local ZNG
commander in Hrvatska Dubica was a criminal and a thief.
He testified that the ZNG was formed in 1990 right after the elections
and that it was precisely then that the tensions increased. He
admitted that the JNA and T.O. forces were the only legal armed forces
in the SFRY (of which Croatia was a part in 1990). However he denied
that the ZNG was a paramilitary organization, in spite of the fact
that being an illegal armed force operating in the SFRY made it the
very definition of a paramilitary. He also testified that the JNA
brought order and that it fought against both Serb and Croatian
paramilitaries in order to stop killings and looting from taking place.
After Mr. Jocipovic finished, another secret witness called "B-1505"
was called. I'm not sure who exactly this guy was. He is either
somebody who is pretending to be somebody else, which is possible with
all secret witnesses, or he is somebody who was either a member of the
JNA, or was in some other way privy to internal JNA matters.
At any rate he claimed to be a Muslim from Visegrad who saw the JNA
planning to "cleanse Visegrad" of its Muslim population.
The prosecution is expected to finish with him on Monday, and after
that President Milosevic will cross-examine him.
1. Sloba supporters banned from visiting The Hague (19/8)
2. SPS congratulates Milosevic his birthday (20/8)
3. "TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: FIRST SREBRENICA WITNESS TESTIFIES AGAINST
MILOSEVIC (25/8)
Includes a Trascript of Milosevic speaking about Srebrenica dated
September 27, 2002
4. "TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: AUG. 26 2003 - COLM DOYLE TESTIFIES AGAINST
MILOSEVIC
5. MILOSEVIC "TRIAL" REPORT: SYNOPSIS FOR AUGUST 27, 2003
6. SYNOPSIS OF THE DAY'S PROCEEDINGS: AUGUST 28, 2003
7. "TRIAL" REPORT: SYNOPSIS FOR AUGUST 29, 2003
---
Useful Links to Transcripts and Videos of Milosevic 'Trial'
Transcripts:
Go to http://www.un.org/icty/transe54/transe54.htm
Video:
Live English Video Feed
http://www.domovina.net/Icty/eng/room1.ram
Live Serbo-Croatian Video Feed
http://www.domovina.net/Icty/bcs/room1.ram
Archives - English http://hague.bard.edu/video.html
Archives - Serbo-Croatian http://tribunal.freeserbia.com
=== 1 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/tanjug081903c.htm
Socialists embittered by ban to visit Milosevic
Tanjug - August 19, 2003
17:38 BELGRADE - The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) on Tuesday voiced
strong protest with a decision of the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) administration to ban the visits of
its representatives and the Association Freedom for SPS president and
former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, announcing it would
employ all mechanisms aimed at suspending this decision.
The ICTY administration is "trying to explain" this decision by
statements SPS members made after their recent visit to Milosevic at
the Scheveningen detention unit, the party said in a statement and
added that this was really "an excuse aimed at placing president
Milosevic in complete isolation."
Copyright 2003 Tanjug News Agency
Posted For Fair Use Only
---
FoNet, August 20, 2003
Sloba supporters banned from visiting The Hague
BELGRADE -- Wednesday -- The Hague Tribunal is
reported to have banned members of the Socialist Party
of Serbia and the Sloboda (Freedom) Movement from
visiting Slobodan Milosevic, according to Sloboda
Association member Vladimir Krsljanin.
Speaking at a press conference on the occasion of the
former Yugoslav and Serbian President's birthday,
Krsljanin produced a letter from the international
tribunal's administration addressed to Milosevic,
which states that the ban, to be implemented until
further notice, is a result of a media statement given
in breach of court regulations.
The statement was made by Socialist Party delegation
members Milorad Vucelic and Zoran Andjelkovic during
their last visit to the Scheveningen detention centre,
where Milosevic is being held. They gave the statement
to press despite being forewarned that such a move was
against tribunal rules.
Krsljanin protested: "This is hideous manipulation and
an injustice because it is not in line with the rules
of the tribunal".
He stressed that a "legal battle" for the decision to
be overturned would ensue.
The press conference was followed by the holding of a
"Free Serbia" debate and the screening of a
documentary entitled "Defeated Hague", which were to
mark Milosevic's birthday.
=== 2 ===
SPS congratulates Milosevic his birthday
17:14 BELGRADE , Aug 20 (Tanjug) - The Socialist Party
of Serbia said on Wednesday that it sent a
congratulatory message to the preasident of that party
Slobodan Milosevic, who is standing trial in the war
crimes tribunal at The Hague, on the occasion of his
62nd birthday.
SPS said in the message it wished that "the fight he
is leading in The Hague, in the name of national and
state interets, will be victorious, because it is
important for the future of our state and of our people."
---
Send your solidarity messages to:
PRESIDENT
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
UN Detention Unit
Postbus 87810
2508 Den Haag
Pomp Stations Weg 32
The Neteherlands
=== 3 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg082503.htm
"TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: FIRST SREBRENICA WITNESS TESTIFIES AGAINST MILOSEVIC
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - Originally posted August 25, 2003 -
UPDATED August 26, 2003
Written By: Andy Wilcoxson
The first Srebrenica witness has testified against President Milosevic
at The Hague tribunal. At this point it is important to be reminded of
the case President Milosevic is putting with regard to Srebrenica and
so I will now quote from his opening statement.
TRANSCRIPT - Page 10309 Line 12 - Friday September 27, 2002
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: I wish to avail myself of the remaining time to
say a few words about Srebrenica that was mentioned here. I have
already said that I first heard about this -- I said this six months
ago, when I first spoke here, that I first heard about this from Carl
Bildt and that Radovan Karadzic swore to me that he didn't know a
thing about this. All subsequent information corroborated that,
including the subsequently published main report of the Dutch
government published in April 2001. In item 10, it says quite
literally: "There are no indications that the action was taken out in
collaboration with Belgrade, neither in terms of political or military
coordination. In this way, gentlemen, as far as I'm concerned, an end
could be brought to this, but I don't want to place a full stop there.
I want the truth to be revealed with regard to this insane crime, in
the interest of justice. It has to be explained before the world
public. The information that I have compiled so far, and there will be
more to come, speaks of how Izetbegovic used Srebrenica for all kinds
of manipulations and held it in -- in his own reserve for various
political bargains. And you saw from the statement made by a member of
his delegation in the report that was accepted by the UN with regard
to the takeover of Srebrenica, the handover of Srebrenica. You saw all
of this.
Time will show that on the 1st of July, 1995, in the house of a Muslim,
the former president of the municipality in Zvornik, where two members
of the Muslim government from Sarajevo were present, the
representatives of a mercenary military formation within the army of
Republika Srpska but not under the command of the army of Republika
Srpska but within the French intelligence service, they agreed to have
this crime committed, that is to say, to abandon Srebrenica and to
carry out this slaughter.
All information shows that General Mladic knew nothing about this, nor
General Krstic, who was sentenced here. I am personally convinced that
the military honour of Mladic or Krstic would not allow them to
execute civilians, let alone Mladic, Krstic, generals who throughout
the war made a maximum effort to protect prisoners of war and
civilians at all times.
This mercenary unit was commanded by the same people who sent those
same persons only one year later to Zaire so that they would protect
Mobutu and crush a rebellion. This same organisation organised the
purchase of arms a year later. And since I asked you to adopt a writ
of disclosure, please do that. Those people who have a salary for that
and have hundreds of associates, make them as Jacques Chirac and the
French intelligence service and the American intelligence service and
all other intelligence services, let them disclose all the facts they
have on Srebrenica. The information I have available shows that the
point of the agreement reached was the following: The underlying
French idea was that the war in Bosnia should be ended through
effective actions taken by NATO and through military engagement. As a
pretext for military engagement, genocide that will be carried out by
the Serbs will be made up, and the Serb negotiating side will have to
deal with that. The presence of Ratko Mladic in Srebrenica will be
used as a confirmation of the responsibility of the military leadership
and of Mladic himself for having an indictment issued against him in
The Hague by making it appear that a genocide was carried out and
anathema will be placed on the leadership of the Bosnian Serbs and
then the international community will take measures. The protagonists
will not be prosecuted.
One insignificant one, a member of the Croat detachments of death who
happened to be there was accused, and then for the crimes in
Srebrenica, Ratko Mladic should be accused and also the leadership of
Republika Srpska headed by Radovan Karadzic. And this agreement was
attended by two representatives of the Muslim government, that out of
the French, General Janvier was there for sure, and this other person
was said to be Morillon but this was not confirmed. There is no
reliable information saying that it was Morillon.
The agreement was that Srebrenica should be surrendered to the Serbs
practically without any fighting, as forthwith withdraw and in that way
make it possible for them to purportedly take over Srebrenica. Naser
Oric is going to withdraw and award for the action will be 2 million
Deutschmark.
Mladic was not at that meeting. He was having lunch with those generals
later on at the Likovac locality, but according to intelligence data,
he did not know what the subject agreed upon was, and he didn't know
that he was commanding all the units that took part in that,
especially the one that was sent to Zaire later on by the same people
that ordered the job to be done. Oric lives in Lukavac near Tuzla
today. He has a restaurant on the lake and he destroyed more than 70
villages around Srebrenica and that he is one of the greatest criminals
in the war.
///END TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT///
Another important point to make before presenting the synopsis of the
day's events is that "the Srebrenica massacre" referred to in this
article is not the same Srebrenica massacre that the media has been
going on about for the last 8 years.
The media's claim that the Srebrenica massacre was an act of genocide
perpetrated by the Serbs is a lie. There was indeed a massacre at
Srebrenica, but as I am confident that Slobodan Milosevic will prove,
it is not the way that the media has put it. This was a massacre
perpetrated by a multi-ethnic mercenary unit that was under French
control, not under the control of VRS general staff.
Drazen Erdemovic is the first witness to testify at the so-called
"trial" of Slobodan Milosevic about the horrific events that took
place in Srebrenica. Erdemovic is an ethnic Croat from the Bosnian town
of Tuzla. His career throughout the Bosnian war is rather odd. He was
originally a member of the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army), then he
joined the ABiH (Bosnian Muslim "Army of Bosnia - Herzegovina"), after
that he joined the HVO (Croatian Army), finally he wound up a member
of the VRS (Army of Republika Srpska) serving in the 10th Sabotage
Division.
As a mercenary in the 10th Sabotage Division, Erdemovic participated a
cold blooded massacre of 1,200 Bosnian Muslims at the Pilca Farm near
Srebrenica. By his own admission, Erdemovic personally massacred over
100 Bosnian Muslim men ranging in age between 18 and 60.
In March of 1996 Erdemovic was arrested by the authorities of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia precisely because of his participation
in that massacre at Srebrenica. Because Erdemovic was not a citizen of
the FRY, the Yugoslav authorities honored an extradition request of
the Hague Tribunal and sent Erdemovic to The Hague.
When Erdemovic arrived at the Hague he coped a plea agreement, which
allowed him to get off with only a 5 year prison sentence, even though
he admitted to personally murdering 100 people and participating in the
slaughter of 1,200. In a further act of insult to the victims of his
killing spree, the Hague Tribunal granted Erdemovic early release so
that he didn't even have to serve the whole 5 years.
In addition to getting off with only a slap on the wrist for killing a
hundred people, Erdemovic doesn't even have to live with the shame of
being known as a mass murderer. He has been given a new identity, and
his testimony today was given with protective measures; the video of
his face was obscured so that nobody could recognize his face, and
voice distortion technology was used so that nobody would even
recognize his voice.
It is obvious just from seeing this that the Hague Tribunal exists to
protect the real war criminals and while simultaneously persecuting
the innocent.
Erdemovic's testimony was quite interesting to say the least. The 10th
Sabotage Division, which carried out the massacre, was a multi-ethnic
unit according to Erdemovic. The unit contained Muslims, Croats,
Slovenes, and some Bosnian Serbs.
Erdemovic stated categorically that he saw no Yugoslav or Serbian
personnel in or around Srebrenica at the time in question. There was
only his unit and some local groups, but nobody from the Government of
either Serbia or Yugoslavia. Erdemovic, echoing the conclusions of the
Dutch Government, saw nothing that would indicate any participation by
Belgrade in the planning or execution of the Srebrenica massacre.
It is completely out of the question that President Milosevic could
have had anything to do with the tragic events in Srebrenica. The only
attempt to "link" Milosevic to the events in Srebrenica came when
Erdemovic claimed to have spoken to an unnamed member of the Serbian
MUP at the Military Hospital in Belgrade.
Erdemovic claimed that this alleged MUP officer told him that he had
participated in the attack on Srebrenica. The only problem is that
Erdemovic didn't remember this tidbit until November 3, 2001, and
remember he had been in the custody of the Hague Tribunal since 1996,
but he never mentioned that until 2001.
The contentious point between President Milosevic and Mr. Erdemovic
was over who was responsible for ordering the massacre. Erdemovic
claimed that the orders "must have" come from the General Staff of the
VRS.
Erdemovic never saw any orders from the General Staff. Erdemovic says
that he was ordered to carry out the executions by a unit commander
named Gojikovic who had allegedly claimed to have gotten his orders
from some unknown Lt. Colonel from the Drina Corps of the VRS.
To counter the Erdemovic's claim that the order to carry out this
hideous crime "must have" come from the General Staff of the VRS;
President Milosevic produced the orders issued by the General Staff of
the VRS, pertaining to Srebrenica, which explicitly stated that
civilians must be protected and that the laws and customs of war had
to be abided by.
Erdemovic denied any knowledge of any foreign involvement in the
Srebrenica tragedy. However, he did admit to some odd goings on.
First of all, Erdemovic, claimed to have no idea how much he was
personally paid, which raises the red flag that he may have been
receiving money other than the normal VRS salary, which along with the
fact that he fought at one point or another for every side in the war,
would indicate that he was in fact a mercenary.
Erdemovic also claimed that he had heard from his wife that a
commander of the 10th Sabotage Division named Pelimic had received a
large quantity of gold from unknown persons, and that after the war
this Pelimic was living the high life and having jewel incrusted gold
chains made for himself at jewelry stores. Erdemovic admitted that
this information even made him suspect that somebody had bribed the
commanders of his unit so that they would perpetrate that horrific
crime at Srebrenica.
Erdemovic also testified that he had heard about some members of the
10th Sabotage Division, including Pelimic, subsequently going to
France in order to become mercenaries in Zaire, after the end of the
Bosnian war, which jives with what Milosevic said in his opening
statement.
I don't know when or if Erdemovic's testimony will continue. The
so-called "trial chamber" went into closed session at the end of the
hearing to decide, and so I guess we will see tomorrow, but they did
not intend to keep this witness more than 1 day.
SYNOPSIS OF THE PROCEEDINGS FOR AUGUST 25 2003
1. Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice Examines the witness Drazen Erdemovic.
2. President Slobodan Milosevic cross-examines the witness Drazen
Erdemovic
=== 4 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg082603.htm
"TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: AUG. 26 2003 - COLM DOYLE TESTIFIES AGAINST MILOSEVIC
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - August 26, 2003
The Hague Tribunal heard testimony from Colm Doyle today. The former
Irish army major served as head of the European Community's monitoring
mission in Sarajevo, and later on as the special envoy of Lord
Carrington, he was also the chairman of the EC conference on Yugoslavia.
Even though Mr. Doyle was at the Hague to testify against Milosevic;
his testimony did not incriminate Milosevic in the least. The only
part of Doyle's testimony that had anything at all to do with
Milosevic was his testimony about a meeting he had with President
Milosevic in Belgrade on 16 June 1992. According to Doyle, Milosevic
expressed strong support for the peace process. Doyle claimed that
Milosevic reiterated his position that the violence and bloodshed
should be stopped and that the only solution for Bosnia was a solution
which was fair to all 3 sides, and which all 3 sides could agree on.
Doyal said that Milosevic expressed strong support for Radovan
Karadzic's proposal that UN observers should be attached to all units
of the Bosnian-Serb Army. He said that Milosevic condemned the
shelling of Sarajevo and pledged to do what he could to assist the
peace process.
So, the only evidence that the prosecution brought against President
Milosevic with this witness was that he wanted to stop the Bosnian war
and find a solution that was fair to all 3 sides. I guess working to
stop a war is what makes one a war criminal at the Hague Tribunal.
Even though the rest of Mr. Doyle's testimony had absolutely nothing
to do with President Milosevic, parts of it were quite interesting.
The most interesting tidbit was Doyle's testimony about how the
Bosnian parliament reached its decision to hold the referendum on
succession from Yugoslavia.
According to Doyle, on or about the 15th of October 1991 the speaker
of the Bosnian parliament adjourned the parliament for the night at
around 3:30 in the morning. After the Serb MPs had gone home for the
night, the Muslim and Croat MPs reconvened the parliament and passed
the decision that the referendum on succession should be held.
To put it bluntly, the Muslim and Croat MPs tricked the Serb MPs into
leaving the debate on the referendum question by fraudulently
adjourning the parliament and then fraudulently reconvening it again
after the Serbs had left for the night. After the Serbs had gone home,
falsely believing that the parliament was in fact adjourned, the Muslim
and Croat MPs, who remained fraudulently reconvened the parliament and
passed the decision to hold a referendum on succession, without the
consent of the Serb MPs.
President Milosevic asked Mr. Doyle if he considered that this
decision of the parliament was made lawfully or not. Doyle didn't
really know what to say at this point, because the answer is so
obvious. Doyle's answer was ultimately that he didn't know.
Another interesting piece of information came when Doyal spoke of a
peace conference that he was at with Radovan Karadzic in Lisbon.
During that peace conference a number of Muslim civilians were killed
while waiting in a breadline in Sarajevo. Karadzic immediately swore to
Cutileiro that the Bosnian Serbs didn't perpetrate that crime.
According to Doyle, Cutileiro's response to Karadzic was that the
Bosnian Serbs would be publicly blamed whether they perpetrated that
massacre or not. Cutilero then told Karadzic that his only option was
to "make a public gesture of good will" by handing over control of the
Sarajevo Airport.
Moreover, the Muslim representative used the breadline massacre as an
excuse to walk out of the negotiations and the negotiations failed.
As it turns out the Bosnian Serbs did not perpetrate that massacre.
Slobodan Milosevic quoted from an article in the London Independent
entitled "Muslims 'slaughter their own people'," dated 8/22/92.
According to the article "United Nations officials and senior Western
military officers believe some of the worst killings in Sarajevo,
including the massacre of at least 16 people in a bread queue, were
carried out by the city's mainly Muslim defenders -- not Serb
besiegers -- as a propaganda ploy to win world sympathy and military
intervention. . . . Classified reports to the UN force commander,
General Satish Nambiar, concluded . . . that Bosnian forces loyal to
President Alija Izetbegovic may have detonated a bomb. 'We believe it
was a command-detonated explosion, probably in a can,' a UN official
said then. 'The large impact which is there now is not necessarily
similar or anywhere near as large as we came to expect with a mortar
round landing on a paved surface.'"
Doyle claimed that he didn't know anything about that, but he didn't
attempt to refute it either. He simply said that he didn't personally
know who was responsible.
President Milosevic will continue his cross-examination of Mr. Doyle
tomorrow. The troika has granted him 1 hour and 5 minutes to complete
his cross-examination. After he concludes the Amicus Curiae will be
given 15 to 20 minutes for cross-examination.
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS:
1. Witness Colm Doyle was examined by the prosecutor Geoffrey Nice.
2. Witness Colm Doyle was cross-examined by President Slobodan
Milosevic.
=== 5 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg082703.htm
MILOSEVIC "TRIAL" REPORT: SYNOPSIS FOR AUGUST 27, 2003
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - August 27, 2003
Written by: Andy Wilcoxson
The proceedings today began with the conclusion of Slobodan
Milosevic's cross-examination of Colm Doyle. President Milosevic and
the Amicus Curiae Tapuskovic both asked Doyle a number of questions
regarding reports of events that the Canadian Major-General Lewis
MacKenzie (UN Commander in Bosnia) had sent to Lt Gen Satish Nambiar at
the UN Headquarters in New York.
Amazingly, Doyle who headed the European Community's observation
mission in Bosnia had no idea about any of the numerous events that
Milosevic and Tapuskovic asked him about on the basis of MacKenzie's
reports, all of which had to do with Muslim attacks and provocations
against Serbs.
A humorous event came when Milosevic asked Doyle whether he was aware
of the position that the US State Department and the European
Parliament (which is an organ of the EC) took in 1991. That position
was that the SFRY should remain one single unified state and that the
secessionist republics should not be recognized. Doyle confirmed that
he was aware that that was the position which was taken.
Milosevic then asked Doyle how come the US and the EC recognized the
secessionists anyway, in spite of their publicly stated position.
Doyle said that he didn't know, and that he didn't ask. Milosevic
asked Doyle if he considered it to be hypocritical for the US and the
EC to say one thing and then do exactly the opposite. Before Doyle
could answer the question, the so-called "jugde" May jumped in and
instructed Doyle that he didn't have to answer the question.
It was obvious from Doyle's testimony that the Muslims had weapons
from the outset of the war. The Muslims were not unarmed, like they
are fond of claiming.
The beginning of the war came when the Muslims, after announcing the
results of their illegal referendum on succession, famously attacked a
Serb wedding party in Sarajevo, killing the groom on the steps of the
Orthodox Church. Doyle said that after that attack, tensions
increased, and the Serbs erected barricades in Sarajevo, which the
Muslims then fired upon (with the weapons that they claim never to
have had).
After Doyle was concluded the witness Stepjan Kraljevic was called.
Kraljevic was a municipal official from the town of Ilok, Croatia.
Kraljevic painted a picture where the JNA, for no reason, expelled the
population of Ilok. But, when Milosevic cross-examined Kraljevic it
became obvious that this witness was given to exaggeration.
Milosevic showed an agreement that Kraljevic and others from Ilok had
signed with the JNA. The agreement stated that the JNA would do its
best to protect all people who wished to remain in Ilok, but that the
JNA would also help the people who wished to leave Ilok to leave
safely. Ilok is near to Vukovar and there was heavy fighting in the
area, so there were people who wanted to leave, in fact the JNA
reached the agreement because the citizens requested it.
The witness, on the other hand, tried to present this agreement by the
JNA to protect people if they wished to leave the town as a sort of
expulsion by the JNA.
The witness viewed the JNA's demand that the T.O. should turn over its
weapons in accordance with the decision of the SFRY presidency as a
sort of provocation by the JNA, even though the witness admitted that
this demand only came after the Ilok police (who issued the T.O. their
weapons in the first place) fired on and destroyed a JNA tank with a
rocket launcher. But then again the witness did not consider the JNA
to be the legal armed force of the SFRY in 1991.
Mr. Kraljevic also produced a document called "Civilian Victims of the
Homeland War" which he presented as some sort of evidence against
Milosevic. In this document of his numerous "victims" had their cause
of death listed as things such as traffic accidents and suicide. So now
I guess, according to this witness, if somebody gets into a car wreck
or decides to kill themselves that is Milosevic's fault.
The next witness was a secret witness code named "C-1175." "C-1175"
claimed to have been a member of the Serbian T.O. in Dalj, Croatia.
His claim was that he saw the T.O. there commit some crimes.
"C-1175" claimed that all of the members of the Serbian T.O. in Dalj
were local Serbs and Hungarians. Since they were all locals, living in
Croatia, it is clear that Slobodan Milosevic, who was the president of
Serbia, could not have had anything to do with whether or not the T.O.
there committed any crimes there or not. So, even if the crimes that
the witness enumerated really happened they still wouldn't have
anything to do with Milosevic.
"C-1175's" testimony wasn't completely useless. "C-1175" did establish
that it was the Croats and not the Serbs who initiated the clashes and
ultimately started the war in Croatia.
"C-1175" testified that already in March and April of 1991 the Croats
had formed squads to terrorize Serbs and carryout so-called "silent
liquidations." "C-1175" also testified that the Croats perpetrated
numerous crimes on Serb property.
"C-1175" testified that before the war the Croatian police were
arresting Serbs without cause and taking them away and beating them
up."C-1175" should be concluded tomorrow. The troika has given
President Milosevic 45 more minutes to complete his cross-examination.
Sequence of Events - AUGUST 27, 2003
1. President Milosevic concluded his cross-examination of Colm Doyle.
2. Amicus Curiae Tapuskovic cross-examined Colm Doyle.
3. Prosecutor Nice re-examined Colm Doyle.
5. Prosecutor Saxon called Stepjan Kraljevic and examined him.
6. President Milosevic cross-examined Stepjan Kraljevic.
7. Amicus Curiae Tapuskovic cross-examined Stepjan Kraljevic.
8. Prosecutor Saxon re-examined Stepjan Kraljevic.
9. Prosecutor Uertz-Retzlaff called the secret witness "C-1175" and
examined him.
10. President Milosevic began his cross-examination of the secret
witness "C-1175."
=== 6 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg082803.htm
SYNOPSIS OF THE DAY'S PROCEEDINGS: AUGUST 28, 2003
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - August 28, 2003
Written by: Andy Wilcoxson
Today was a marathon day at The Hague Tribunal. 5 different witnesses
testified. The day began with the conclusion of the secret witness
"C-1175." As you may remember from yesterday "C-1175" was a member of
the Serbian T.O. in Dalj. He was a member of the T.O. for only one
month before he quit. He left because of his regular job, and because
he was angry at the T.O. commander because he wouldn't give him a fuel
voucher.
"C-1175" established that the prison in Dalj was set up and ran by the
T.O., and not by the JNA. As you may remember from yesterday the Dalj
T.O. was made up exclusively of locals. The JNA had nothing whatsoever
to do with the Dalj prison.
"C-1175" testified the day before about a group of men that had been
taken to a farm and killed. These men were brought to the farm from
Borovo Celo and killed by a group of civilians, not by the T.O., not by
the police, and not by the JNA.
"C-1175" spoke of a chaotic situation were people would appoint
themselves as the police, he referred to these people as "space
police." All in all the war just sounded like a mess, but one thing
was certain about C-1175's testimony, Slobodan Milosevic didn't have
anything to do with anything that this witness testified about.
After "C-1175" finished another secret witness, a woman from Vukovar,
testified under the pseudonym of "C-1071."
"C-1071" lost her husband during the war. The JNA evacuated the
witness and her family from Vukovar along with some of their
neighbors, she went directly to Serbia, but her husband had to stay
behind to be checked by the JNA.
The witness confirmed that the JNA had in fact evacuated the people
for their own protection, and not because of any other reason, and she
testified that she never saw the JNA doing anything that was illegal.
According to an unnamed person that the witness knew, who was being
checked by the JNA at the same time as her husband, the JNA took the
men to a facility in Dalj to be checked. Her husband checked-out OK and
was released by the JNA.
Her husband was supposed to come and find her with their relatives in
Serbia after the JNA released him. Unfortunately, he never made it.
"C-1071" went to Dalj to investigate and try to find out what had
happened to her husband. She found out in the course of speaking with
people in Dalj that her husband had been attacked by a group of
civilians after he was released by the JNA. His body was later found
in a wooded area outside of town.
This is certainly a sad story that this woman lost her husband, but I
fail to see what a group of civilian criminals who exploit a chaotic
situation in a war, has to do with Milosevic. After all, he certainly
didn't start the fighting in Vukovar. This witness testified that
fighting only began in Vukovar after the Croats had blockaded the JNA
barracks there.
Had there been no fighting in Vukovar there would never have been a
need for any of this.
The next witness was a senile old Croat woman from Saboska named Anna
Bitunic. She lost her husband too. She testified that her husband and
some other men were shot by her house.
One minor problem with her testimony was that she had no idea who had
shot her husband and the other men. She said it was men in uniforms,
and so Milosevic asked her who's uniforms were they wearing? T.O.
uniforms, JNA uniforms, or some other uniforms? Mrs. Bitunic did not
know what sort of uniform that the people who shot her husband were
wearing, she was at a loss. She had no idea who did it.
It is too bad that this woman lost her husband, but it could be seen
from her testimony that she was half-crazy. She said that the Serbs
were happy after the referendum in Croatia because they wanted to
create "greater-Serbia" and that they were "happy because they could
kill whoever they wanted to," and other such nonsense.
Obviously, with no idea who even committed the crime that she was
testifying about; her testimony can be viewed as nothing other than a
completely irrelevant waste of time that has nothing to do with
Milosevic, or anybody else.
Actually, all of the testimony that has to do with Bosnia and Croatia
is an irrelevant waste of time, as far as Milosevic is concerned,
because Slobodan Milosevic was the president of Serbia and didn't have
any command over any of the combatants in either Bosnia or Croatia.
After Mrs. Bitunic finished a man named Luka Shutalo was called. Mr.
Shutalo was from Erdut, Croatia. He escaped from the war zone in 1991
by going to Serbia, where it just so happened that Slobodan Milosevic
was the president, and guess what happened to him in Serbia? Nothing.
Nobody did anything to him. He was free to do as he wished in Serbia.
In spite of the fact that going to Milosevic's Serbia "saved his
neck," this witness nonetheless blamed Milosevic and what he called
the "Yugo Army" (meaning the JNA) for everything.
This guy actually thought that it was Milosevic who was in command of
the JNA. Milosevic asked the witness what on Earth would make him
think that he was the commander of the JNA, but before the witness
could answer, the so-called "judge" May jumped in and told the witness
not to answer, and Milosevic not to ask those sorts of questions.
Mr. Shuralo claimed that he had been taken prisoner and that he was
mistreated at the prison in Dalj, which he said was not even ran by
what he considered to be "Milosevic's Yugo Army." This was nothing but
more irrelevant testimony that again had nothing to do with Milosevic.
It is amazing to me to watch so much time being wasted on irrelevant
witnesses that don't even attempt to prove anything against Milosevic.
This makes it all the more absurd that the so-called "trial" chamber
gave the prosecution all of that extra time to "present evidence,"
which is something that they might want to consider doing some time.
So far there has been no real evidence presented against Milosevic.
Nothing that that so-called "prosecution" has done so far even comes
close to proving that Milosevic is guilty of anything.
The last witness to testify was another Croatia witness named Josip
Jocipovic. He was another 92-bis witness. The prosecutor read out a
summary of his statement about some alleged events in Hrvatska Dubica,
but he has not been cross-examined yet.
However from just what the prosecutor said I can see that this is
another witness who does not have anything at all to do with Milosevic.
This whole day, like many days before it, was a total waste of time
for the prosecution. Slobodan Milosevic has successfully defeated the
prosecution with every witness.
=== 7 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg082903.htm
"TRIAL" REPORT: SYNOPSIS FOR AUGUST 29, 2003
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - August 29, 2003
Another secret witness testified today at the Hague Tribunal. B-1054 a
Muslim woman from a village near Visegrad testified that she was taken
to a house in Visegrad along with 70 other Muslims. According to this
woman, Serb civilians from Visegrad attempted to burn them all alive in
that house.
For the sake of argument, we will start by assuming that she was
telling the truth. Even if this happened, and even if it happened
exactly in the way that she said it did; it proves nothing. This woman
did not allege that anybody from Serbia, or anybody from the JNA even
took part in this alleged crime. It is therefore clear that Slobodan
Milosevic could not have had anything at all to do with this.
Her two written statements, her previous testimony from another trial,
and the testimony that she gave today did not all fit together very
well. There were a number of discrepancies.
For example, she claimed to have been laid-up in the hospital for 22
days, but her medical report revealed that she was only in the
Hospital for 10 days. She had exaggerated her time in the hospital by
more than double.
She was inconsistent again as to how the alleged fire started in the
House. One time she said it was a bomb that ignited the fire, and
another time she said that somebody had just lit a match.
In her second statement she spoke of an alleged massacre that "a band
of Chetniks" was committing on the river. According to this witness
"the slaughter was so horrible that it made the river run red with
blood." However, in her first statement she neglects to mention that
minor detail. When asked how come she didn't mention it in her first
statement her excuse was that it "was just too horrible to speak of."
She has no problem speaking in her first statement about other
horrible things. She spoke all about how she lay wounded in a sewage
ditch near to the allegedly burning house listening to the screams of
people who were allegedly being burned alive, and that wasn't "too
horrible to speak of," but apparently seeing some corpses in a river
was.
Her statements were also inconsistent with respect to the names of
people that she claimed to have seen at certain places.
Another problem with her testimony was that she claimed that everybody
had died in that house, by either being burned in the fire, or shot
while trying to flee. She even said that she thought that her own son
had died. However, she later said that she found her son alive and
well 5 years later on. So how could she know that everybody else died?
She thought that her own son was dead for 5 years, but he wasn't.
An entertaining moment came when the Amicus Curiae, Mr. Tapuskovic and
the so-called "judge" May got into a fight. "Judge" May became quite
indignant when Mr. Tapuskovic dared to peruse a line of questioning
that called the truthfulness of this witness's testimony into question.
Tapuskovic was asking questions about inconsistencies in the witness's
evidence. The witness responded by getting indignant. For example,
when Tapusokvic asked her how she could know that everybody was killed
when her own son was even able to flee without her knowledge. She
responded indignantly by saying, "So you say that my son should have
been killed too! Is that it?"
After this little exchange Tapuskovic and Milosevic both gave the
so-called "judge" a lesson in law. During his fight with Mr.
Tapuskovic, the so-called "judge" claimed that "the accused hasn't
even challenged this evidence" (even though he had), and so President
Milosevic had to explain to this so-called "judge" that he had no way
of knowing if the event in questioned had happened or not, but it
wasn't him, as the accused, who had the burden of proving that it
didn't happen -- rather it was the prosecution who had the burden of
proving that it did happen.
After President Milosevic had explained, to this pathetic excuse of a
"judge," the concept of "innocent until proven guilty," which appears
to be completely foreign to "Dick" May. Mr. Tapuskovic had to explain
to this idiot what his job was in the first place. Mr. Tapuskovic
explained to that crimson robe-wearing fool that as a judge his job is
to sit and listen to the evidence and then decide, after hearing all
of the evidence, if the witness is telling the truth or not.
Mr. Tapuskovic was clearly astonished that "judge" May considered it
inappropriate to ask questions that challenged a witness's
credibility. What is the point of cross-examination if not to challenge
the witness? Tapuskovic explained that he had been a lawyer for 40
years, and had never seen a judge that would prevent these sorts of
questions.
After Mr. Tapuskovic finished his cross-examination, the so-called
"judge," who clearly had no other motive than just a desire to be a
smart-ass, said to the witness, "It has been suggested that you may not
be telling the truth. Have you been lying to us?" and the witness
surprised everybody by saying, "Of course I have been telling the
truth." At that point "judge" May let the witness go.
The next witness was Josip Jocipovic. Mr. Jocipovic had been examined
by prosecutor Bauer the day before, and so President Milosevic went
directly into cross-examination.
Like so many other witnesses this witness's testimony had nothing to
do with President Milosevic. The closest he came was when he said that
two men, who he couldn't identify, allegedly told him that they had
been fighting in Vukovar and that they were from Serbia.
Other than that he testified about a couple of men from the Krajina
police who committed some crimes. However, after they had committed
the crimes they were removed by Milan Martic.
He did however give some useful testimony. He was a member of the ZNG,
and to the dismay of Ms. Bauer, he testified that the local ZNG
commander in Hrvatska Dubica was a criminal and a thief.
He testified that the ZNG was formed in 1990 right after the elections
and that it was precisely then that the tensions increased. He
admitted that the JNA and T.O. forces were the only legal armed forces
in the SFRY (of which Croatia was a part in 1990). However he denied
that the ZNG was a paramilitary organization, in spite of the fact
that being an illegal armed force operating in the SFRY made it the
very definition of a paramilitary. He also testified that the JNA
brought order and that it fought against both Serb and Croatian
paramilitaries in order to stop killings and looting from taking place.
After Mr. Jocipovic finished, another secret witness called "B-1505"
was called. I'm not sure who exactly this guy was. He is either
somebody who is pretending to be somebody else, which is possible with
all secret witnesses, or he is somebody who was either a member of the
JNA, or was in some other way privy to internal JNA matters.
At any rate he claimed to be a Muslim from Visegrad who saw the JNA
planning to "cleanse Visegrad" of its Muslim population.
The prosecution is expected to finish with him on Monday, and after
that President Milosevic will cross-examine him.