Subject: Part 2 of 2 - PRESIDENT
MILOSEVIC IN THE HAGUE JAN. 30, 2002 - TRANSCRIPT
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 22:58:39 EST
From: JaredI@...
To: JaredI@...
Part 2 of 2 - PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC IN
THE HAGUE JAN. 30, 2002 - TRANSCRIPT
In November 1997, there was a summit
meeting in Crete of all heads of state
and governments of Southeastern Europe.
Back then, we discussed - at our
initiative - the elimination of
barriers, tariffs, integration within
Southeastern Europe and improving our
mutual cooperation. I had a direct
dialog with the Albanian Prime Minister
Fatos Nano. We spoke of normalizing
our relations, eliminating visas and
tariffs, developing transport and trade
links, et cetera. Fatos Nano and I went
before the TV cameras and he then
said, after talking about cooperation
and improving our mutual relations,
that Kosovo was an internal Serbian
matter. This was a promise of peace, of
peaceful solutions to all these problems.
But this was an alarm for all the
powers that continued to act criminally
against my country, trying to
destabilize Yugoslavia and intervene
the way they did. A month or two afterwards,
we received a letter from [German
Foreign Minister] Kinkel and [French
Foreign Minister] Vedrine saying they
were worried about the situation in
Kosovo. For ten years since the time you
claim Serbia "seized" control of its
own territory, there were no murders,
no expulsions, no plunder, no arson, no
arrests in Kosovo. We did not have a
single political prisoner in Yugoslavia
- not one. Kosovo had 20 newspapers
and other publications in Albanian,
which one could buy at every street
corner. Not a single issue, not a
single copy, was ever banned. Albanian
political parties, even separatist
ones, worked freely. Someone here said
we tolerated them. No, our view was that
everything should be permitted - except
violence.
Then the powers behind Yugoslavia's
destruction and occupation rounded up
criminals throughout Western Europe and
sent them to Kosovo to establish a
terrorist organization. They began
terrorist attacks in the spring of 1998.
Then they were crushed. By the fall of
1998, they were completely eliminated,
surrendering by the truckload the
weapons they had smuggled in.
Within that year, they mostly killed
Albanians. I do not have specific
figures with me, since I did not know I
would be given a chance to speak
today. I was notified of my appearance
here only yesterday, and I did not
know what would be discussed. So I do
not have all the specific information,
but I will tell you what I do have. Two
and a half times...
Claude Jorda:
Mr. Milosevic, please allow...
Pres. Milosevic:
... more Albanians than Serbs were
killed by the terrorists in 1998. They
killed Albanian police officers, postal
carriers, forest rangers, even
retirees - only because they received
their retirement checks from the state.
They were attempting to strike terror
in the hearts of Albanians as well as
kill Serbs. We protected our citizens
- both Serbs and Albanians - from
terrorism, and this operation was
completed by the fall of 1998. Then [US
envoy] Holbrooke came to demand a
Verification Mission in order to create
a pretext for attacking Yugoslavia. Let
me tell you....
Claude Jorda:
Mr. Milosevic, allow me just a minute.
Please. Just one minute. I will not
take away your time, I will certainly
give it to you. Even this International
Tribunal whose legality you dispute is
giving you the opportunity to fully
state your case. It seems to me, first
of all, that you are ready to start
with the trial - even today, as it
seems. This goes to your credit. You are
ready. But I have to take you back to
the... Please, try not to completely
lose sight of the issue we are discussing
today. We are not the chamber that
will conduct your trial. We understand
well that your central idea is quite
contrary - that this is a victimization
of your country. It has been heard
and understood.
It would be good for you, Mr.
Milosevic, not to deceive yourself about the
chamber that will try you. You have the
same amount of time as the prosecutor
here. As the chairman of this chamber I
guarantee that. Please, do not lose
sight of the topic we are discussing, then.
You have a thesis you are attempting to
defend, and you have that right - and
will have that right. However, I have
to remind you that this Appeals chamber
is facing an important procedural
question. It may not be important to you,
but it is to us, since we are trying to
safeguard the norms of just and
equitable procedure. What we would like
to know is if you would like your
trial for Kosovo to be separate from
the trial for Bosnia and Croatia, or if
you would prefer them to be combined. I
understand that you might answer this
in a roundabout way. I will, of course,
permit you to speak. You are a
defendant who has good mental health
and clarity of thought. Therefore I ask
you to try and answer this question.
Thank you in advance. You have the floor
again.
Pres. Milosevic:
First of all, this is the only time I
have not been interrupted, the first
time I can say something, and I will
use every opportunity to address the
public regarding the crime that is
being perpetrated against my country. I
do this not because of procedure, since
procedure does not interest me, but in
order to answer the attacks against my
country and my people, and the ongoing
crimes against them. I want the public
to know that after the aggression...
Claude Jorda:
Please wait, Mr. Milosevic. You
understand that you have much time at
your disposal, but you will have more when
the trial starts. This is, of course,
not the subject of today's debate.
You have the right to continue. But you
are now addressing the people outside
this courtroom. Mr. Milosevic, I have
to tell you that you will have the
right to address the public. The
international community created this
trial and I certainly wish that all the
rules that apply to the prosecution, to
you and to the civilization are
respected. Today's debate is about
how the trial would take place in
another chamber. I have no intention of
interrupting you and will subtract the
time I used up by my interruptions. You may
proceed now.
Pres. Milosevic:
I want to emphasize that the crime
against my country has continued. The
most recent Serb murdered in Kosovo that
I've heard of was killed on Christmas
this year. Some 350,000 were expelled
from Kosovo under UN auspices, while
Albanian terrorist activities were
protected by the UN. Since the arrival of
the so-called UN peacekeepers that were
obligated by [UN Security Council]
Resolution 1244 to guarantee the
security of person and property to
every inhabitant of Kosovo, Albanian
terrorists have expelled 350,000 people
and torched tens of thousands of homes.
Sometimes they would burn 50, 60, all
the Serbian houses in a village, in plain
sight of the [UN] troops. These are in
fact occupation troops, who came [to
Kosovo] under the UN banner only to
transform themselves overnight into
occupiers and allies of the terrorists
who killed, who mutilated and butchered
so many, and burned so much, and
continue to do so even today. And they
say they were unaware this was happening.
Can anyone believe that the troops over
there could be unaware that tens of
thousands of homes were being torched?
Can someone damage and destroy...since
the UN troops came, 107 Serbian
churches have been destroyed. Can someone
destroy an entire church and burn it
without the UN troops knowing?
This is a "joint criminal enterprise"
- of the forces who committed crimes
against Yugoslavia with the drug-Mafia
and Albanian terrorists in Kosovo, for
the purpose of crimes not only against
the Serbs but all other non-Albanians,
even Catholic Albanians. Even Albanians
who, in any way - such as cashing
their retirement checks - showed any
loyalty to the Republic of Serbia as
their state.
What is happening over there is
practically the rehabilitation of a policy
led by Hitler and Mussolini. This talk
about "Greater Serbia", this alleged
idea that never really existed, is only
raised to mask the creation of
"Greater Albania" - the very same one
that was made by Hitler and Mussolini
in World War Two. Look at it then, and
look at what is being done now, what
they want to seize from Serbia,
Montenegro, Macedonia - tomorrow maybe from
northern Greece, when Greek-Turkish
relations are strained under orders of
the common master.
This is obviously a crime, and the
thread running through it is obviously
a crime against Yugoslavia. I want to
point out that falsifying historical
facts is not easy, though. It is not
easy even when these facts are only
known to a select group of people, and
downright impossible when millions,
entire nations, know the facts. With
all due respect, the real judges in this
trial - not you who wear the robes
- are those who decided to murder
children in my country, who launched
NATO's aggression and dropped 25
thousand tons of bombs in 78 days,
murdering mostly elderly people,
children and women.
They want to play that role. But they
will not be the judges.
The real judge here is the people -
not just the people of Yugoslavia, but
the peoples of all the countries who
care about liberty and equality. Not for
nothing do we have a saying that the
judgment of the people is the judgment
of God. We all face that judgment, not
just me - who is facing an attempt
here to be made responsible instead of
being given recognition - but also
you, and your employers, especially
those who committed crimes against my
country.
Since you want me to request something
of you, let me demand this: set me
free. I demand to be set free because
you and the entire world should know by
now that I will not run from a fight
for my people and my country. I have no
intention of running. It does not serve
the honor of this institution to keep
me imprisoned here, in disgraceful
conditions, in order to deprive me of
equality in stating my arguments -
even if this institution were legal,
and you know very well that it isn't.
For if you didn't know - and I
don't refer to you in particular, but
to the institution - then you would have
accepted the motion from the amici curiae
to seek advisory opinion from the
International Court of Justice on the
legality of this tribunal. You did not
seek it, because the outcome would be
entirely predictable.
Altogether, I think that such a
criminal approach, an attempt to cast
the victim as the culprit, both in regard
to my country, my people and myself,
has not yet been recorded in history.
With that in mind, I consider it both
logical and just to release me
immediately. I will not flee, and I am
ready to enter any of these debates, since
this is one battle which I certainly
have an obligation to fight.
***
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http://www.icdsm.org/maillist.htm
Receive no more than one article per
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MILOSEVIC IN THE HAGUE JAN. 30, 2002 - TRANSCRIPT
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 22:58:39 EST
From: JaredI@...
To: JaredI@...
Part 2 of 2 - PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC IN
THE HAGUE JAN. 30, 2002 - TRANSCRIPT
In November 1997, there was a summit
meeting in Crete of all heads of state
and governments of Southeastern Europe.
Back then, we discussed - at our
initiative - the elimination of
barriers, tariffs, integration within
Southeastern Europe and improving our
mutual cooperation. I had a direct
dialog with the Albanian Prime Minister
Fatos Nano. We spoke of normalizing
our relations, eliminating visas and
tariffs, developing transport and trade
links, et cetera. Fatos Nano and I went
before the TV cameras and he then
said, after talking about cooperation
and improving our mutual relations,
that Kosovo was an internal Serbian
matter. This was a promise of peace, of
peaceful solutions to all these problems.
But this was an alarm for all the
powers that continued to act criminally
against my country, trying to
destabilize Yugoslavia and intervene
the way they did. A month or two afterwards,
we received a letter from [German
Foreign Minister] Kinkel and [French
Foreign Minister] Vedrine saying they
were worried about the situation in
Kosovo. For ten years since the time you
claim Serbia "seized" control of its
own territory, there were no murders,
no expulsions, no plunder, no arson, no
arrests in Kosovo. We did not have a
single political prisoner in Yugoslavia
- not one. Kosovo had 20 newspapers
and other publications in Albanian,
which one could buy at every street
corner. Not a single issue, not a
single copy, was ever banned. Albanian
political parties, even separatist
ones, worked freely. Someone here said
we tolerated them. No, our view was that
everything should be permitted - except
violence.
Then the powers behind Yugoslavia's
destruction and occupation rounded up
criminals throughout Western Europe and
sent them to Kosovo to establish a
terrorist organization. They began
terrorist attacks in the spring of 1998.
Then they were crushed. By the fall of
1998, they were completely eliminated,
surrendering by the truckload the
weapons they had smuggled in.
Within that year, they mostly killed
Albanians. I do not have specific
figures with me, since I did not know I
would be given a chance to speak
today. I was notified of my appearance
here only yesterday, and I did not
know what would be discussed. So I do
not have all the specific information,
but I will tell you what I do have. Two
and a half times...
Claude Jorda:
Mr. Milosevic, please allow...
Pres. Milosevic:
... more Albanians than Serbs were
killed by the terrorists in 1998. They
killed Albanian police officers, postal
carriers, forest rangers, even
retirees - only because they received
their retirement checks from the state.
They were attempting to strike terror
in the hearts of Albanians as well as
kill Serbs. We protected our citizens
- both Serbs and Albanians - from
terrorism, and this operation was
completed by the fall of 1998. Then [US
envoy] Holbrooke came to demand a
Verification Mission in order to create
a pretext for attacking Yugoslavia. Let
me tell you....
Claude Jorda:
Mr. Milosevic, allow me just a minute.
Please. Just one minute. I will not
take away your time, I will certainly
give it to you. Even this International
Tribunal whose legality you dispute is
giving you the opportunity to fully
state your case. It seems to me, first
of all, that you are ready to start
with the trial - even today, as it
seems. This goes to your credit. You are
ready. But I have to take you back to
the... Please, try not to completely
lose sight of the issue we are discussing
today. We are not the chamber that
will conduct your trial. We understand
well that your central idea is quite
contrary - that this is a victimization
of your country. It has been heard
and understood.
It would be good for you, Mr.
Milosevic, not to deceive yourself about the
chamber that will try you. You have the
same amount of time as the prosecutor
here. As the chairman of this chamber I
guarantee that. Please, do not lose
sight of the topic we are discussing, then.
You have a thesis you are attempting to
defend, and you have that right - and
will have that right. However, I have
to remind you that this Appeals chamber
is facing an important procedural
question. It may not be important to you,
but it is to us, since we are trying to
safeguard the norms of just and
equitable procedure. What we would like
to know is if you would like your
trial for Kosovo to be separate from
the trial for Bosnia and Croatia, or if
you would prefer them to be combined. I
understand that you might answer this
in a roundabout way. I will, of course,
permit you to speak. You are a
defendant who has good mental health
and clarity of thought. Therefore I ask
you to try and answer this question.
Thank you in advance. You have the floor
again.
Pres. Milosevic:
First of all, this is the only time I
have not been interrupted, the first
time I can say something, and I will
use every opportunity to address the
public regarding the crime that is
being perpetrated against my country. I
do this not because of procedure, since
procedure does not interest me, but in
order to answer the attacks against my
country and my people, and the ongoing
crimes against them. I want the public
to know that after the aggression...
Claude Jorda:
Please wait, Mr. Milosevic. You
understand that you have much time at
your disposal, but you will have more when
the trial starts. This is, of course,
not the subject of today's debate.
You have the right to continue. But you
are now addressing the people outside
this courtroom. Mr. Milosevic, I have
to tell you that you will have the
right to address the public. The
international community created this
trial and I certainly wish that all the
rules that apply to the prosecution, to
you and to the civilization are
respected. Today's debate is about
how the trial would take place in
another chamber. I have no intention of
interrupting you and will subtract the
time I used up by my interruptions. You may
proceed now.
Pres. Milosevic:
I want to emphasize that the crime
against my country has continued. The
most recent Serb murdered in Kosovo that
I've heard of was killed on Christmas
this year. Some 350,000 were expelled
from Kosovo under UN auspices, while
Albanian terrorist activities were
protected by the UN. Since the arrival of
the so-called UN peacekeepers that were
obligated by [UN Security Council]
Resolution 1244 to guarantee the
security of person and property to
every inhabitant of Kosovo, Albanian
terrorists have expelled 350,000 people
and torched tens of thousands of homes.
Sometimes they would burn 50, 60, all
the Serbian houses in a village, in plain
sight of the [UN] troops. These are in
fact occupation troops, who came [to
Kosovo] under the UN banner only to
transform themselves overnight into
occupiers and allies of the terrorists
who killed, who mutilated and butchered
so many, and burned so much, and
continue to do so even today. And they
say they were unaware this was happening.
Can anyone believe that the troops over
there could be unaware that tens of
thousands of homes were being torched?
Can someone damage and destroy...since
the UN troops came, 107 Serbian
churches have been destroyed. Can someone
destroy an entire church and burn it
without the UN troops knowing?
This is a "joint criminal enterprise"
- of the forces who committed crimes
against Yugoslavia with the drug-Mafia
and Albanian terrorists in Kosovo, for
the purpose of crimes not only against
the Serbs but all other non-Albanians,
even Catholic Albanians. Even Albanians
who, in any way - such as cashing
their retirement checks - showed any
loyalty to the Republic of Serbia as
their state.
What is happening over there is
practically the rehabilitation of a policy
led by Hitler and Mussolini. This talk
about "Greater Serbia", this alleged
idea that never really existed, is only
raised to mask the creation of
"Greater Albania" - the very same one
that was made by Hitler and Mussolini
in World War Two. Look at it then, and
look at what is being done now, what
they want to seize from Serbia,
Montenegro, Macedonia - tomorrow maybe from
northern Greece, when Greek-Turkish
relations are strained under orders of
the common master.
This is obviously a crime, and the
thread running through it is obviously
a crime against Yugoslavia. I want to
point out that falsifying historical
facts is not easy, though. It is not
easy even when these facts are only
known to a select group of people, and
downright impossible when millions,
entire nations, know the facts. With
all due respect, the real judges in this
trial - not you who wear the robes
- are those who decided to murder
children in my country, who launched
NATO's aggression and dropped 25
thousand tons of bombs in 78 days,
murdering mostly elderly people,
children and women.
They want to play that role. But they
will not be the judges.
The real judge here is the people -
not just the people of Yugoslavia, but
the peoples of all the countries who
care about liberty and equality. Not for
nothing do we have a saying that the
judgment of the people is the judgment
of God. We all face that judgment, not
just me - who is facing an attempt
here to be made responsible instead of
being given recognition - but also
you, and your employers, especially
those who committed crimes against my
country.
Since you want me to request something
of you, let me demand this: set me
free. I demand to be set free because
you and the entire world should know by
now that I will not run from a fight
for my people and my country. I have no
intention of running. It does not serve
the honor of this institution to keep
me imprisoned here, in disgraceful
conditions, in order to deprive me of
equality in stating my arguments -
even if this institution were legal,
and you know very well that it isn't.
For if you didn't know - and I
don't refer to you in particular, but
to the institution - then you would have
accepted the motion from the amici curiae
to seek advisory opinion from the
International Court of Justice on the
legality of this tribunal. You did not
seek it, because the outcome would be
entirely predictable.
Altogether, I think that such a
criminal approach, an attempt to cast
the victim as the culprit, both in regard
to my country, my people and myself,
has not yet been recorded in history.
With that in mind, I consider it both
logical and just to release me
immediately. I will not flee, and I am
ready to enter any of these debates, since
this is one battle which I certainly
have an obligation to fight.
***
Subscribe to the ICDSM email list at
http://www.icdsm.org/maillist.htm
Receive no more than one article per
day.
Click here to send the link to this
article to a friend.
http://www.icdsm.org