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The Death of Slobodan Milosevic
Submitted by David Peterson on Sat, 2006-03-11
16:13.
Today, Saturday 11 March 2006, Slobodan Milosevic
was found lifeless on his bed in his cell at the United Nations Detention Unit
in Scheveningen. The guard immediately alerted the Detention
Unit Officer in command and the Medical Officer. The latter confirmed that
Slobodan Milosevic was dead.
I would haveposted
moreButRight now, the natureof what's
available from the English-language news sources to which we all have ready
access in this Internet age is so predictably biasedand, indeed,
systematicallydistorted (e.g.,Reuters quotes theFrench Foreign Minister
Philippe Douste-Blazyto the effect that "Milosevic conceived and planned"
everything),I'm afraid to touch it, without also putting on a pair of
gloves before doing so. Or a toxic waste disposal suit.
Just to give you one example of what I mean: Milosevic's corpse
can't be more than a few hours cold, and the American Senator, leading light of
the Democratic Party, and ranking Minority Member of the Senate International
Relations Committee, Joseph R. Biden of Delaware, already has taken tothe
American airwaves torecapitulatethe statement he issued way back on
June 28, 2001---the day when certain Belgrade officials
shippedMilosevictothe same Scheveningen Detention
Unitwhere he just died.
Said Biden then: "We are witnessing one of the most significant
events in postwar European history, where a nation has voluntarily turned over
to an international tribunal for trial one of the most dangerous and maniacal
European leaders since Hitler." Now. Tack on the French Foreign
Minister's line about Milosevic having "conceived and planned" everything, and
we have a pretty good foretaste of tomorrow'sheadlines.
Over the next several days,be on the lookout for statesmen
and commentators and above all professional victims whose point of view will
beindistinguishable from that of the Office of the Prosecutor at the
Tribunal where Milosevic just died. Modern
Hitler + Conceived and Planned
Everything are theorder of the day.The purpose
of such historical engineering and
revisionism-before-the-fact---indeed, the most
egregiousreachesas far back as 1990-1991---it's always best to
stake-out one's claim to therecord as early as possible---is, and always
has been, to use the West's institutional machinery to imposean account of
the breakup of Yugoslavia that hews to these revealedTruths.
As Michael P. Scharf, an American professor of international
lawand, as Michael Mandel tell usin his invaluable book, How America Gets Away With Murder(Pluto Press, 2004, p. 117ff), a "self-described 'insider' who was
actively involved in theformulation of US war crimes policy, and who had a
big hand in drafting the law governing the tribunal," wrote in the months
following the U.S.-led war over Kosovoin 1999 ("Indicted For War Crimes,
Then What?" Washington Post, Oct. 3, 1999):
From the beginning, the Security Council's motives in creating
the tribunal were questionable. During the negotiations to establish the
court--talks in which I participated on behalf of the U.S. government--it
became clear that several of the Security Council's permanent members
considered the tribunal a potential impediment to a negotiated peace
settlement. Russia, in particular, worked behind the scenes to try to ensure
that the tribunal would be no more than a Potemkin court.
The United States's motives were also less than pure.
America's chief Balkans negotiator at the time, Richard Holbrooke, has
acknowledged that the tribunal was widely perceived within the government as
little more than a public relations device and as a potentially useful policy
tool. The thinking in Washington was that even if only low-level perpetrators
in the Balkans were tried, the tribunal's existence and its indictments would
deflect criticism that the major powers did not do enough to halt the
bloodshed there. Indictments also would serve to isolate offending leaders
diplomatically, strengthen the hand of their domestic rivals and fortify the
international political will to employ economic sanctions or use force.
Indeed, while the United States and Britain initially thought an indictment of
Milosevic might interfere with the prospects of peace, it later became a
useful tool in their efforts to demonize the Serbian leader and maintain
public support for NATO's bombing campaign against Serbia, which was still
underway when the indictment was handed down.
Five years later, at the timeMilosevic was scheduled
(finally) to beginhis defense, the master cynicreturned tothis
theme("Making A Spectacle of Himself," Michael P.
Scharf,Washington Post, Aug. 29, 2004):
In creating the Yugoslavia tribunal statute, the U.N. Security
Council set three objectives: first, to
[news] More Revolting by the Minute
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/comments.php?id=P2683_0_1_0 AntiWar.com Blog More Revolting by the Minute In the aftermath of Milosevic's death, CNN is wheeling out one arrogant imperial blowhard after another. Right now is Daniel Serwer, who was preceded by the always entertaining Richard Holbrooke. As could be expected, they are pushing the "Milosevic was responsible for everything that ever went wrong" line to the hilt. And of course, Holbrooke gravely intoned that Milosevic was right up there with Hitler and Stalin.All of this media bombast has little to do with Milosevic, and a lot to do with the Western media and power structures, whose reputations and careers are at stake. The coming week is going to see a long and drawn-out public orgy of hatred and slander against everything Serbian. Milosevic's death is just the catalyst, and anyone who doubts that will have to ponder why has-been Holbrooke used his time on CNN to not just call for but to ORDER that Kosovo and Montenegro be made independent; he also said there are "two more" war criminals who must be apprehended (Karadzic and Mladic), conveniently ignoring another duo, Haradinaj and Ceku over in Kosovo. That's because they are on the side of The Good, in other words, the West.This week we are going to witness the awesome power of the mass media to shut down any debate or discussion about the facts. It is going to be sweeping, complete and brutal, and will use a hell of a lot of other adjectives too. Don't expect that after Milosevic is buried, wherever and however that may be, that the Official Truth will ever be contested again in a major way. Posted by: Christopher Deliso on Mar 11, 06 | 8:51 am Write to the author
[news] Kosovo: Where the West got it fundamentally wrong
Kosovo: Where the West got it fundamentally wrong 06.03.2006 Source: URL: http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/76884-Kosovo-0 Over recent years, the West has been propelled by an ever-more imperialist Washington, whose expansionist policies are fuelled by the selfish interests of the clique of corporate elitists who have their country’s policy in their grip – Capitalism’s worst nightmare – and a gaggle of sycophants who squirm for praise in the hope of being thrown some morsels under the table. The latest chapter in this hideous story, after the acts of piracy and mass murder against the civilians of Iraq during the 1990s, after the illegal attack against Serbia, after the slaughter of wedding parties in Afghanistan, after the breach of international law, the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions in the act of butchery in the Second Gulf War, we now have a meddlesome and interfering stance on the future status of Kosovo. The fundamental question Were Kosovo simply a UN-administered province undergoing some serious and open process of dialogue as to its future status, with respect being given to the Serbian side – after all, Kosovo is part of Serbia – nobody would be that worried. However, here lies the crux of the matter: Kosovo is, and always has been, the heart of the Serbian nation, since the battle of Kosovo Polye (Blackbird Field) in 1389, the reason for the heart of the Serbian civilization to continue beating, even in the face of adversity. For Serbs, Kosovo Polye is a rallying call. Kosovo Polye is the Motherland. Kosovo Polye is home. An Independent Kosovo But the West, insensitive, arrogant, true to form, could not care less. The Albanian connection in the US House of Congress speaks louder and transcends all notions of logic. The corporate elitists have decided. After all, the heroin trade is worth billions. Therefore we have talk and rumours in diplomatic circles in the international community that the powers that be have decided that Kosovo is to be an independent state. The only reason that most Albanians ever went to live in Kosovo was because it was part of Serbia, with a standard of living far higher than that of Albania. The number of pregnant Albanian women who went to Kosovo to bear their child over the years is numbered in the tens of thousands. The children were pawns in the take-over bid which was the dream of a Greater Albania, some Quixotic chimera which was never more than a dream for Albanians and a nightmare for their neighbours. This bid took on a more sinister twist in the nineties, with Al Qaeda and the CIA once again walking hand-in-hand, arming the Albanians for different reasons but playing the same song in tandem. The result was the much-feared (outside Washington’s Capitol Hill) UCK (Ushtria Clirimtare e Kosoves, Kosovo Liberation Army). The mother of international terrorism. Slobodan Milosevic made the mistake of trying to free his country of this scourge (wholly unconnected with the Bosnian question which was partly solved with the creation of Republika Srpska) and paid a heavy price. Many were the Albanian women fleeing eastwards away from the KLA and into the Serb lines because they did not want to be forced into prostitution in Albanian mafia gangs operating overseas. After all, women’s rights in Serbia are respected. One cannot say the same in the case of all Albanians. The Greater Issue As usual, the West is incapable of looking beyond its nose and as usual, as with the case of Iraq, the West has got it fundamentally wrong. If Kosovo gains independent status, what happens elsewhere and what will the effects of this be in South Ossetia, Chechnya, Daguestan, Ingushetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Abkhazia in the Caucasus? Or Republika Srpska and the Albanian enclaves throughout the Balkans in Greece, in Serbia, in Montenegro, in Macedonia? In short, the Balearics, Bavaria, Brittany, Burgundy, Catalonia, Cornwall, Corsica, Euskadi, Flanders, Scotland, Sicily or Wales, to name a few, have more reason to press for a legitimate claim of independence than Kosovo. The point is that it is not the role of the European Union nor indeed anyone else outside Belgrade to decide whether Kosovo is independent or not. Kosovo is a question for Serbia and Serbs to decide, period. As we saw throughout centuries of imperialism, colonization and slavery, the west has an
[news] PRAVDA: The Hague tries to conceal reasons of Slobodan Milosevic's death
Slobodan Milosevic found dead in his prison cell The Hague tries to conceal reasons of Slobodan Milosevic's death 03/11/2006 [article] / Opinion / Columnists Mr. Milosevic was found lying dead on his bed by a guard at the IPC detention centre, where he was taken after being illegally kidnapped by NATO forces in 2001 and where upon arrival, his prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, declared he was guilty even before the trial had begun More... / Discuss / E-mail Slobodan Milosevic’s death in his prison cell triggers rumours of murder 03/11/2006 [article] / World / Europe For more than a decade as Yugoslavia broke to pieces, SlobodanMilosevic was more than just another political leader. He both voiced and moulded the rise of Serbian nationalism and used the Yugoslav national armyto carve out a ‘Greater Serbia’. More... / Discuss / E-mail Kosovo: Where the West got it fundamentally wrong 03/06/2006 [article] / Opinion / Columnists As usual, the West is incapable of looking beyond its nose and as usual, as with the case of Iraq, the West has got it fundamentally wrong. If Kosovo gains independent status, what happens elsewhere and what will the effects of this be in South Ossetia, Chechnya, Daguestan, Ingushetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Abkhazia in the Caucasus? Or Republika Srpska and the Albanian enclaves throughout the Balkans in Greece, in Serbia, in Montenegro, in Macedonia? http://english.pravda.ru/topic/Milosevic-58/
[news] George Kenney's comment on SM death
A Premature Death For five hours in mid-August 2004, I met with Slobodan Milosevic in a cramped, improvised office, cluttered with papers and books, in a UN detention area within the huge Dutch prison at Scheveningen, a seaside suburb of the Hague. Outside, spotless townhouses provide normality; cyclists blithely cruise the flats past the prison's gates. Always known for posh mansions, a favorite of foreign diplomats, today Scheveningen's boardwalk and casinos are its big draws, elbowing aside the glittering sea. I'd told you in the wrap-up of my March 9 podcast conversation with Linda Schade that I was standing by to return to the Hague imminently, to be a witness for the defense in Milosevic's trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). With his death this morning in his cell that's not going to happen. So here are a few ramblings: Casual, somewhat rumpled, Milosevic talked more than I did, chain smoking the entire time. Since he'd battled indictments for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for over two years I'd expected a chastened, worn out man but found him full of vinegar, determined to turn the tables on the court. "I will ruin them!" he told me. When Milosevic's team asked me to be a defense witness I was of two minds. On the one hand I figured he should probably be in jail in Serbia (and I told him so), on the other the prosecution at the ICTY had never been able to provide a 'smoking gun' implicating Milosevic in any particular crime. Indeed, the prosecution saw ordinary grounds for dismissal as a plus: it cleared away facts and gave the court a chance to convict on a theory of history, thereby fulfilling its informal mandate to legitimize Nato's interventions in Yugoslavia's collapse. The prosecution alleged Milosevic had 'command responsibility' in a 'joint criminal enterprise' to start a civil war, wreck the Yugoslav state, and create a 'greater Serbia' from the rubble. Conviction would have applied in principle to Serbia as a whole, making its policy stance during the civil war illegal after the fact. At least up through 1995whether we liked him or notMilosevic had been an indispensable partner in negotiating a settlement and indeed was a signatory to the Dayton agreement that ended the war. Setting the later Kosovo indictments aside (which I was not in a position to testify about), to chase after Milosevic for pre-Dayton activities seems to me illogical and would, in some substantive way, make all the negotiating partners complicit in the alleged crimes. Moreover, if the ICTY wanted to go after Milosevic in such a manner then fairness dictates that leaders from the top echalons on all sides should be indicted for similar 'command responsibility' for identical crimes. They were not. Milosevic asked me, "Why did the US and Nato do this to us?" He was genuinely puzzled. I have thought a lot about the "whys" and ventured that in post-Cold War Europe no place remained for a large, independent-minded, socialist state that resisted globalization. He'd had such ideas too, and fell silent, slowly nodding his head with a wry smile. "We were too good," he said, and after a pause, "and too independent." I offered one further insight: How could it be that western elites coalesced so early, so easily, upon a narrative for Yugoslavia's civil war so at variance with known facts, and so impermeable to correction? The elite's ability to get things wrong still does not speak clearly for itself. A predisposition existed, I told him, that ascribes infallibility to claims of genocide if they were repeated often and loudly enough. Milosevic slouched over, listening, staring at the desk. When I finished he shook his head, 'no.' Perish the thought he should have added to his troubles yet for me it remains a worthy question. The ICTY's maximum penalty is a life sentence. We didn't talk about the difficulties of coping with prison but I sensed he walked a fine line. "I am not a nationalist," he explained, in a digression that took over an hour. Or, on the subject of why Serbia kept paying Serbs fighting outside Serbia, "It was natural," "an obligation," and only "a minor matter." As the trial moved forward the drama of those conflicting priorities only partially played out. Ex post facto justice never makes sense. Milosevic may have been guilty of somethingindeed, he probably wasbut it wasn't genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. Nor can any court determine the true history of a civil war, no matter its power. With such intellectual fallacies we make a poor exchange, replacing rational human relationships with arbitrary authoritysomething, in all its guises, genuinely to be feared. The decent thing would have been to give Milosevic back to Serbia. The prudent thing now would be to pull the plug on the ICTY, before its tainted processes do permanent damage to our sense of justice. Posted
[news] With Milosevic Dead, West Will Blame Serbians Collectively
http://regnum.ru/english/604047.html Regnum (Russia) March 12, 2006 Milosevics death will let to preserve accusations against Serbians Slobodan Milosevics death will cease the investigation of many episodes of ethnic clashes in the Balkans in the framework of the International Tribunal on former Yugoslavia, as the only accused in it was Milosevic, prominent Serbian historian and columnist Miroslav Jovanovic. According to Jovanovic, most charges against Milosevic had no solid evincive basis. However, now, Serbias opponents can repeat these accusations once and again, and there will be no prosecution on these accusations. By the way, as Jovanovic stressed, the accusations presented against Milosevic were mostly accusations against Serbians, and conviction of Milosevic were intended by many as conviction of Serbians as a whole. Former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic was found dead in his cell in prison of the International Tribunal on former Yugoslavia on March 11. -- http://regnum.ru/english/604078.html Regnum (Russia) March 12, 2006 Milosevic wrote a letter to Russian foreign minister before death Before his death, ex-President of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic wrote a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. As Lenta.ru reports, legal assistant of the former Yugoslavian president Branko Rakic informed about it on March 11. According to Rakic, on March 10, Milosevic sent a letter to Lavrov, in which he shared his concern that a campaign is held against his health. This last message of Milosevic was sent to Moscow, which demonstrates how strongly Milosevic believed in Russia and its officials, says Branko Rakic. According to the spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry Mikhail Kamynin, the ministry has received no letter yet. Earlier, lawyer of the former Yugoslavian leader Zdenko Tomanovic announced that Milosevic could have been poisoned. Milosevic was found dead in his cell of the Hague prison. Milosevic suffered from high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems; however, he was not allowed to undergo medical treatment. The reason of Slobodan Milosevics death has not been found. Serbian News Network - SNN news@antic.org http://www.antic.org/
[news] News, 12.03.2006, 16:00 Uhr UTC
DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter English Service News 12. 03. 2006 17:00 Uhr UTC -- signandsight.com signandsight.com is the English version of the prize-winning online cultural magazine perlentaucher.de. Providing free access daily reviews of Germany's cultural press, it translates keynote articles and reviews the season's best publications. www.signandsight.com -- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Milosevic Wrote of Poison Threat, Legal Aide Says Slobodan Milosevic claimed a day before his death that he risked being poisoned, his legal advisor said Sunday, fueling swirling rumors over the demise of the former Yugoslav leader while on trial for war crimes. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1932045,00.html -- Car bombs in Baghdad kill at least 30 In Iraq at least 36 people have been killed by a series of coordinated car bombs in the capital Baghdad. Police said more than 100 others were wounded in the attacks which happened in Sadr City, the Shi'ite district of the capital. A police spokesman said two car bombs went off at one market while a third exploded almost simultaneously at another. The area of the capital is the stronghold of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Meanwhile the trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been adjourned for a day after a five-hour session on Sunday. He and seven other defendants are facing charges of crimes against humanity in connection with the massacre of almost 150 Shi'ites in the village of Dujail in 1982. Autopsy being conducted on Milosevic The autopsy has begun on the body of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was found dead in his cell on Saturday. A spokesman for the War Crimes tribunal at the Hague, where Milosevic was being tried for war crimes, said results of the autopsy would be known within the next 24 hours. Earlier the chief prosecutor of the UN's war crimes tribunal said she couldn't rule out that Milosevic had committed suicide. Carla Del Ponte also said that his death made it even more urgent for two former Bosnian Serb leaders to be delivered to the tribunal. The 64-year-old Milosevic had been on trial for the past four years on more than 60 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the wars in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s. Four US soldiers killed in Afghanistan Four US soldiers have been killed in eastern Afghanistan after the vehicle they were travelling in was hit by an explosive device. Earlier a former Afghan president who heads a government commission seeking to encourage Taliban defections survived a suicide bomb attack in Kabul. Police said at least two people, including a suicide car bomber, were killed in the blast, which targetted Sibghatullah Mojadidi, who also chairs the upper house of parliament. Several other people were injured. Mojadidi was in a car being driven on a busy main road from his house towards the city centre when the blast occurred. Confusion over Russia's Iran plan Iran says a Russian compromise aimed at defusing an international dispute over Tehran's nuclear activities is still on the agenda after earlier rejecting the plan. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said negotiations were still possible if the Russian proposal acknowledged Iran's right to conduct nuclear research on its own soil. Moscow had proposed enriching low-grade uranium for Iran on Russian territory to ensure that the material would be used only for power stations and not to make nuclear warheads as feared by the West. Chile's first woman president sworn in Chile's first female president has been sworn in at a ceremony in the port city of Valparaiso. Michelle Bachelet was imprisoned and tortured under the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. The 54-year-old single mother appeared relaxed as she took her oath before the 1,000 invited guests, which included more than 20 heads of state. The centre-left politician was elected on a pledge to reduce the gap between rich and poor in the country. Ariane-5 rocket launched The first Ariane-5 rocket to lift off this year has sent two satellites into orbit after a long delayed launch. The launch was initially scheduled for February 21, but it was postponed three times due to technical problems. Half an hour after the blast-off from the European Space Agency launch centre in Kourou, French Guyana, the rocket released two telecommunication satellites. One is for Spain's defence ministry, the other for the European telecom operator Eutelsat. It is to provide telephone, data and video transmissions across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Protest against
[news] In Memoriam Slobodan Milosevic (1941-2006)
Statement from the INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION FREE SLOBO (Brussels - Paris - Belgrade) March 11, 2006 http://www.free-slobo.org / In Memoriam Slobodan Milosevic (1941-2006): HOMAGE TO PRESIDENT SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC ASSASSINATES IN THE CELLS OF THE SO-CALLED ICTY The Yugoslav president, 64 years, died, this March 11 in the cells of The Hague of the so-called International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), a anti-Serb and anti-Yugoslavian war machine, created, financed and controlled by Washington and its muppets of NATO where it had been held for more than four years for so-called war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide after being kidnapped in Belgrade, with the contempt of the Yugoslav and international laws. The so-called faked “trial” organized by NATO against President Milosevic, had been several times suspended since its beginning on February 12, 2002 for health reasons. Slobodan Milosevic suffered in particular from serious cardiovascular disorders , which did not prevent the NATO's media to speak over “simulation”. The so-called ICTY had rejected at the end of February a request conditional release deposited by lawyers of Slobodan Milosevic for going to cure in Russia, spite of the guarantees deposited by Moscow.Radio-television of Serbia indicated that Milosevic was deceased after its health had suddenly worsenedA foreseeable situation. A death which is connected with a crime. And a death which falls just at the good time for the so-called ICTY and its Masters whereas President Milosevic, of the general opinion of independent observers, broke the charge and was the moral winner of the unequal and difficult fight that he carried out against the “court”. “The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was created in 1993 to try those responsible for atrocities during the Balkan wars then raging. It was the first experiment in international war crimes jurisprudence since World War II, and was the model for the creation of more tribunals. But the success of the court was being weighed by the happenings in Courtroom, where the defiant, combative Serb leader sparred with witnesses and judges alike”, said THE GUARDIAN. We share the accusations of our Russian comrade Babourine who qualifies of crime the refusal of The Hague Court to authorize Milosevic to follow a treatment in Russia : It's to commit a crime to refuse a medical care to a patient. It is a coarse violation of the humans rightIt is indeed in these suitable terms that the president of the Rodina fraction in Douma (Lower House of the Russian Parliament), Sergueï Babourine, commented on Saturday for RIA Novosti the news of the death of the Yugoslav president. With Sergueï Babourine, we estimate that the iniquitous and unworthy judges of the so-called Court of The Hague did not have any interest to carry out until the end the judicial enquiry relating to Slobodan Milosevic It is the true reason for which the so-called ICTY had refused to authorize Milosevic to be gone to Moscow to follow a treatment there. It should be recalled that Slobodan Milosevic is the third Serb accused to die for lack of suitable care in the cells of the prison of The Hague. It is necessary to put a term at this ignominieuse thing (the Court of The Hague) and to give all the accused to the legal authorities of their respective countries to be judged there by national courts , said Sergueï Babourine in his conclusion that we approve. The brother of Milosevic, Borislav has on his side accuse in Moscow the so-called ICTY to be entirely responsiblefor the death of the Yugoslav president. The death of the Yugoslav president is indeed full of shadows. In Belgrade even, in the sector of professional information, one evokes even an assassination of President Milosevic, camouflaged in heart failure. And justified by the collapse of the charge, particularly following the suicide last week of Milan Babic, former president of the Serbs of Croatia, and which was to testify against Milosevic after being submited to the blackmail of the ICTY. “In the midst of his defence, after Carla del Ponte's inept attempt at prosecution (many of her key witnesses turned out to be liars) Slobodan Milosevic was about to call some resounding names in international circles to the stand. Now, they will not have to go. How very convenient the death of Slobodan Milosevic is. With the disappearance of an important witness in Milosevic's trial, Milan Babic, through suicide, less than a week ago, the Hague detention centre could rightly be called Death Row and is evidently unfit to detain and protect prisoners”, comment the PRAVDA. Voices also rise in Russia to denounce an assassination. Let us listen General Leonid Ivashov - ex head of the Defense Ministry international cooperation department and vice-president of the Russian Academy for geopolitical
[news] Russian parliamentarians speak on Milosevic death
Russian parliamentarians speak on Milosevic death 18:23 | 11/ 03/ 2006 MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) - By denying the former president of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, the right to undergo treatment in Russia, the UN war crimes tribunal actually "denied him the right to life," a deputy speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Lyubov Sliska said Saturday. Milosevic was found dead in his cell in The Hague Tribunal's prison in the morning. Sliska said doctors had been aware of Milosevic's condition but refused to temporarily release him. She blamed his death on those who denied him treatment and urged them to resign. Last December, Milosevic, 64, suffering from a heart condition and high blood pressure, asked to allow him to go for treatment to the Bakulev Institute, Russia's leading cardiology center, but was refused. The International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia refused to grant Milosevic temporary release from detention to travel to Russia, saying there were no sufficient guarantees that the man, charged with genocide and war crimes, would return for his trial, nor was there any evidence to prove he could not be given adequate medical care without leaving the Netherlands. Russian daily Kommersant speculated, however, that if allowed to come to Russia for treatment, Milosevic would try to gain political asylum and stay in the country. Another State Duma deputy speaker, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who is also the leader of Russia's ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party, said the lower house would adopt a resolution March 15 demanding to bring to account the tribunal's judges who denied Milosevic treatment in Moscow. Zhirinovsky said MPs would demand that the tribunal be dismissed. "It's monstrous that Europe, which is fighting for human rights, refused seriously sick Slobodan Milosevic treatment," he said, adding that Milosevic, accused of genocide during the conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and the Serbian province of Kosovo in the 1990s, had not been found guilty yet. The head of the Duma faction Rodina (Motherland), Sergei Baburin, called the tribunal's refusal a crime. He said a serious violation of human rights was evident, adding that Milosevic was a third person who died in the Hague Tribunal's prison. The head of the Duma's international affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachev, said the circumstances of Milosevic's death should be thoroughly investigated. He said the competence of doctors who "kept refusing to recognize the seriousness of the former Yugoslavia president's condition" should come under close scrutiny. A representative of the tribunal denied any responsibility on the part of the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia president's death. He said equal treatment could have been provided in The Hague, and added that there had been a risk that the accused would not return from Russia if he had been temporarily released from detention and allowed to go there. http://en.rian.ru/world/20060311/44184874.html
[news] Probe Into Milosevic Death
Probe Into Milosevic DeathUpdated: 19:01, Sunday March 12, 2006Traces of drugs which could have stopped former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's heart medication working were found in blood tests, according to reports.The 64 year-old, who had suffered from high blood pressure and heart problems, was found dead in his cell in the Hague, where he was being tried on war crimes.A blood sample taken from Milosevic between November and January contained unusual substances, according to Dutch public television NOS.It said doctors found traces of drugs which could have neutralised the medicine Milosevic was taking for high blood pressure and heart problems.An autopsy has been conducted to establish how former Milosevic died but the results have not yet been released.A coroner was unable to pinpoint the exact cause of death on Saturday, amid rumours that he was poisoned or committed suicide.Milosevic's body is to be returned to his family on Monday, according to Serbia-Montenegro's human rights minister Rasim Ljajic.Milosevic's lawyer, Zdenko Tomanovic, said Milosevic had told him that he thought he was being poisoned.He said: "I informed the Russian embassy on behalf of Mr Milosevic about his claims that his health was being wilfully destroyed, and that this should be investigated by the Russians."He also claimed that Milosevic had written a six-page letter the day before he died reiterating the claims.Milosevic's family said prosecutors and judges were to blame for his death because they refused to allow him to visit Russia for specialist treatment.His older brother, Borislav Milosevic, said in Moscow: "All responsibility for this lies on the shoulders of the international tribunal. He asked for treatment several months ago, they knew this."They drove him to this as they didn't want to let him out alive."Milosevic had been defending himself against 66 counts, including genocide, in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.The long-running hearings at the Hague were entering their final phase, with the former President expected to finish his defence by the summer.© 2006 BSkyBBack to TopTerms Conditions Privacy Statement Accessibility Information Site Map http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,3-13513290,00.html
[news] Jasenovac concentration camp (1)
DEFENDING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE JASENOVAC CONCENTRATION CAMP IN THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF CROATIA (Letter No. 1) This letter is written and addressed to you by three Jewish survivors of the death camp Jasenovac in the Nazi Independent State of Croatia during the Second World War who are still alive in Serbia: Cadik Danon, the architect, who escaped from the Jasenovac concentration camp in 1942 Bozo Svarc the retired colonel of the Yugoslav Army, who escaped from the Jasenovac concentration camp in the same year and Josif Erlih the retired major of the Yugoslav Army, who was held in Jasenovac to the very bitter end and participated in the break out on 22 of April 1945 when the Croat fascist guards started slaughtering all remaining prisoners DECEIT AND BLACKMAIL Wewishto advise you with some delay about the deliberation of the Executive Committee of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia and Monte Negroonthe motion of our group 25survivors condemningthe participation of Mr. Aleksandar Mosic in the lawsuit against the creators of the Proceedings of he First International Conference on Jasenovac, held in New York in October 1997.We asked theExecutive Committeeto remove Mr Mosic from his position of Chairman of the Memorial Commission of the Federation if he does not withdrewhis suit based on the inclusion in the book of his paper submitted at the Conference without his prior permission. The delay with which we are advising you that the Executive Committee of the Federation doped this case was due to a deceptionperformed by Mr Mosic and a blackmail by him and three other plaintiffs: Jasenovac Research Institute headed byMr Barry Lituchy, Memory Films Production of Mr Joseph Friendly and Mr. Antun Miletic, a historian from Croatia living in Serbia. During the discussion on our motionMr Mosicproduced a document showingthatthe accused creator of the Proceedings Mr Petar Makara settled. Mr Mosiccreated the impression among the members of the EC that the lawsuit is finishedand that three are noreasons to continue the deliberations about Mr Mosic's action. However, Mr Mosicprovided only half of theinformation. He did not revealtothe EC that the second accused, Mrs Wanda Schindley, did not settle and that the court action(trial) in fact continues. In addition to revealing the terms of the settlement to which Mr Makara agreed, Mr Mosic producedat the meeting a second documentinwhich the fourplaintiffs declare that they still did not sign the settlement and that they will not do it until the JewishFederation does not stop deliberating the case against Mr Mosic. Such ablackmail tied our hands. It prevented us from asking immediately a renewal of the deliberationsandinforming the publicabout what happened.We knew thatMr Makaradid not settle because the fate of he bookbecame indifferent to him. Hewas forcedto do it in orderto safeguard the family savingsfor the education of their two sons. Mr Makara has spent in total $40,000of which$10,000 for the printing of the book, $20,000 for his lawyer ad legal fees and had to disburse additional $10.000 to Mr Lituchy's lawyer under the termsof the settlement.We did not want to spoil his chancesto keepthe remaining family savingsand decided to waituntil the court meetingon 2nd of March convoked forpossible settlements.The time gap of 9 days between21 ofFebruary when Mr Makara signed the settlement and the 2nd of March was created becauseMr Makara's lawyer, MrMIchael D. Assaf*, did notsecure that the other side signssimultaneously with Mr Makara.They used the nine days to prepare andperformtheblackmail. The Lituchy's camp signed only on the very eve ofthe court meeting, on March 2nd. With Mr Makara out of the denger, we are now free to tell what has happenedand resume our action to save the book. The most remarkable fact is that Mrs WandaSchindley informed the President of the Jewish Federation Mr Aca Singer, the same night after the failed meeting of the Executive Committee,that she did not settle and that she will continue her fight for the freedistribution of the Proceedings of the Jasenovac conference. Her letter reads as follows: __ Mr. Aca Singer President of the Jewish Federation in Belgrade Dear Mr. Singer, I have been advised of the meeting in which discussion of Mr. Mosic's participation in the lawsuit against the proceedings book of the 1997 conference inNew York was cancelled because Petar Makara settled. Please know that Mr. Makara settled independently, but I will continue to fight for the free distribution of the conference book asa historical record of the conference. The book in question is under temporary injunction until the matter can be resolved through settlement or litigation; however, I will never settleand allow the book to be "banned." The book contains every word spoken at the
[news] URGENT - U.N. tribunal official: Milosevic died of heart attack
URGENT - U.N. tribunal official: Milosevic died of heart attack ANTHONY DEUTSCH, Associated Press Writer March 12, 2006 12:38 PM THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Preliminary results from an autopsy conducted Sunday showed that Slobodan Milosevic died of a heart attack, an official of the U.N. war crimes tribunal said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information, said the autopsy lasted about eight hours. Milosevic, 64, was found dead in his detention cell outside The Hague on Saturday. He had suffered heart ailments, high blood pressure and headaches, forcing numerous delays in his four-year war crimes trial. A tribunal spokeswoman could not immediately comment but said a statement on the autopsy findings would be released shortly. AP-WS-03-12-06 1537EST Serbian News Network - SNN news@antic.org http://www.antic.org/
[news] Russia Blames West For Milosevic's Death
http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/13/stories/2006031303441500.htm The Hindu March 13, 2006 Russia blames West for Milosevic's death Vladimir Radyuhin MOSCOW - Russia has held the West and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) responsible for the death of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic. Milosevic was found dead in his cell at a U.N. prison near The Hague on Saturday. Russia's Foreign Ministry implicitly criticised the ICTY tribunal for refusing Milosevic's request to go to Moscow for medical treatment of his chronic heart ailments and high blood pressure. Unfortunately, despite our guarantees, the tribunal did not agree to provide Milosevic the possibility of treatment in Russia, the Ministry said. Russia had issued official guarantees that Mr. Milosevic would return after treatment, but the court on Friday turned down the request. By refusing Mr. Milosevic permission to come for treatment to Russia the Hague court refused him the right to life, Deputy Speaker of the Russian Parliament Lyubov Sliska said. I think this is a political contract killing, said General Leonid Ivashov, former head of the Defence Ministry's International Cooperation Department. Serbian News Network - SNN news@antic.org http://www.antic.org/
