Milosevic defends himself at tribunal
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, August 31, 2004
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Slobodan Milosevic launched a defiant defense Tuesday of his conduct during the Balkan wars, accusing his enemies of conspiracies against the Serbs and insisting his countrymen acted in self-defense.
The former Yugoslav president sought to shift blame for atrocities and portray the U.N. war crimes tribunal as the tool of a U.S.-supported plot to bring about the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in fighting that left more than 200,000 people dead.
Seated alone at the defense table, Milosevic spoke with his customary swagger and sarcasm. But at times his face reddened as he rushed to complete his statement in the allotted time, leaving translators breathless as they tried to keep up with his rapid Serbian. Judges granted him an additional 90 minutes today to complete the statement.
“Accusations leveled against me are an unscrupulous lie and also a tireless distortion of history. Everything has been presented in a lopsided manner in order to protect those who are truly responsible,” Milosevic said.
It was the first time he had been allowed to speak without interruption since his trial began 21/2 years ago, and he signaled he would mount a highly political rather than legal defense.
He unleashed a stream of invective against those he held responsible for Serbia’s torment: Croatia, which he accused of genocide against its Serb minority; the United States and Europe for allegedly seeking Yugoslavia’s destruction; Islamic fundamentalists for supporting Muslim terrorists in Bosnia and Kosovo; and the Vatican, which he said sought the supremacy of Roman Catholicism in the Balkans over the Orthodox church.
“They call themselves the ‘international community,’ but in the territory of Yugoslavia – Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo – they supported a totalitarian chauvinist elite, terrorists, Islamic fundamentalists, neo-Nazis, whose objective was an ethnically pure state. That is to say, a state without any Serbs,” he said.
Milosevic, who was extradited to U.N. authorities in The Hague by Serbia in June 2001, faces 66 counts of war crimes committed in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo during the 1990s. He could be jailed for life if convicted on any charge.
Milosevic said allegations he conspired to create a Serbian superstate were a myth “created by Austro-Hungarian propaganda as far back as the latter half of the 19th century.”
Milosevic was to have opened his defense following the conclusion of the prosecution’s case in February. But it was postponed five times as doctors warned that stress was raising his blood pressure to dangerous levels.
The judges have said they need to balance Milosevic’s right to defend himself against the requirements of a speedy trial, which so far has been repeatedly interrupted by Milosevic’s illnesses.
Associated Press
Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic enters court Tuesday for his war crimes trial in The Hague, Netherlands. Milosevic faces charges of genocide and other war crimes.
