Belgrade meeting defends Milosevic

A team of three medical specialists from France, Russia and Serbia has released a grave warning: There is serious danger to former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s life if the U.S.-orchestrated show trial at The Hague continues without regard to his deteriorating health.

The team urged an immediate six-week break in the proceedings to allow time for medical treatment.

Despite the official medical report and the publicized warnings, the judges insisted on bringing President Milosevic to court. On Nov. 16 they were forced to suspend the proceedings for five days because Milosevic was too sick to continue. But the medical advice calling for an emergency six-week break was still ignored.

For over three years the case—originally described as the trial of the century—has ground on in media silence. By insisting on his inalienable and internationally recognized right to represent and defend himself, Milosevic has been able to successfully rebut the U.S. justifications for the bombing of Yugoslavia and the occupation of Bosnia and Kosovo. His continuing refusal to recognize the authority of a court established at the demand of the United States and in violation of the United Nations Charter is a challenge to the entire process.

But after four years, the enormous pressure and the near-total isolation forced by the court’s arbitrary rules are taking a toll on the imprisoned president’s health.

The staged proceeding called the International Criminal Tribunal on Yugoslavia was set up 12 years ago by U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright. There is no provision anywhere in the UN Charter for such a court. Yet its very creation, its arbitrary rulings and its power to charge, arrest and imprison any political and military figure in the Balkans immediately gave U.S. officials enormous authority in the region.

In the midst of the 78-day Pentagon bombing of Yugoslavia, President Milosevic was charged with war crimes in order to justify the U.S. war. In 2000, a U.S.-orchestrated coup overthrew Milosevic’s elected government. He was kidnapped and turned over to Hague on June 28, 2001.

International support

The medical report’s warnings of serious health consequences was a focus of an international gathering held in Belgrade on Nov. 12. The conference brought together representatives of the Inter national Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic and the Serbian organization Sloboda (Freedom) Association.

At the gathering, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, vice-chair of the Russian Duma Sergei Baburin and former member of Bulgarian Parliament Velka Vilknav issued a statement supporting the doctors’ recommendations for an immediate six-week postponement of the proceedings to allow medical treatment. They also warned against any attempt to use his deteriorating health as an excuse to try President Milosevic “in absentia.”

The conference, which drew delegates from 12 countries, also released a statement characterizing The Hague proceedings: “The ICTY has thus shown to the whole world that its main role is to legitimize and legalize the most flagrant violations of international law, as well as the most serious crimes committed during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and the NATO aggression against the FR [former republic] of Yugoslavia. ...

“During the 78-day long criminal bombing of the FR of Yugoslavia, the aggressors killed and wounded thousands of civilians, destroyed the economic and transport infrastructure, tried to kill President Milosevic by bombing his residence, used cluster bombs and depleted uranium, and caused destruction amounting to more than $100 billion. ...

“However, the ICTY has not indicted any leader of the NATO member countries.”

The statement urged an immediate end to the proceedings and the protection of the health of President Milosevic, along with more immediate demands on the court procedures. A full statement is available at www.icdsm.org.

Those at the meeting also discussed how to mobilize increased support for President Milosevic now that the proceedings are the in the final stage. The urgent need for funds to continue the defense is part of the pressure on every defense committee. Given the scale and length of the trial and the great difficulty of this effort, it is a relentless problem.

The wider publication of President Milosevic’s opening defense statement rebutting two years of the prosecution charges was also discussed.

The English translation of President Milosevic’s defense statement—a 112-page book entitled “The Defense Speaks—for History and the Future,” published by the International Action Center—was just released, and it was presented to the gathering. The IAC publication includes an introduction by Ramsey Clark. President Milosevic’s opening defense statement has already been published as a book in Serbian, French and Russian. A German translation will be published within the month. Translations in Italian and Portuguese are complete.

The growing interest in translating and disseminating this statement by President Milosevic in several major languages is best summed up by Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter on the back cover of the IAC’s book: “The U.S./NATO court trying Slobodan Milosevic was always totally illegitimate. It could never be taken seriously as a court of justice. Milosevic’s defense is powerful, convincing, persuasive and impossible to dismiss.”

Sara Flounders is part of the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic and was a U.S. delegate to the Belgrade Conference. She coordinated publication of “The Defense Speaks—for History and the Future.”