STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE can be viewed with photos of Saturday's huge Belgrade rally and march. Go to http://emperors-clothes.com/petition/black.htm www.tenc.net * Emperor's Clothes ......On Saturday, June 16th, tens of thousands marched to the Belgrade jail, while Prosecutors told an investigator: "We're Only Doing What the US Wants....." OUTRAGE TO JUSTICE: THE CASE AGAINST SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC by Jared Israel Includes: Investigative Report on Milosevic Case by Canadian Lawyer Chris Black On Saturday, June 16 a huge crowd rallied and marched 7 kilometers to the Belgrade jail. Protesters demanded: * No extradition to the Hague Tribunal! * Keep Kosovo in Serbia! * End Repression in Serbia! * End destruction of Yugoslav economy! * Free Slobodan Milosevic Now!" People on the scene estimated about 50,000 were at the rally. This writer spoke by mobile phone to march Monitors who waited two hours for everyone to pass a given point. It was a very big demonstration. The marchers were driven by a passion for justice that elicited a like response from tens of thousands of onlookers. They cheered from balconies or joined in the streets, swelling the ranks as protesters marched to the jail where Slobodan Milosevic has been held 10 weeks without evidence, without charge, imprisoned, as prosecutors have now admitted, for the crime of resisting NATO. The mass media in Yugoslavia broadcasts ever more bizarre rumors of war crimes while leaders in Washington, Berlin and London, who committed the real war crimes of creating the terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army and bombing Yugoslavia, yank the strings of the Belgrade authorities. Contrary to news accounts, many of the marchers were young. When they got to the jail they tried to tear the fence down. March Monitors restrained them, believing this could be a trap set by the Belgrade authorities, who are increasingly isolated, under harsh pressure from NATO to produce results, and desperate. Once these 'Democrats' promised great improvements if Yugoslavia stopped opposing NATO. Now, in the ruin of the Yugoslav economy, they threaten disaster if Yugoslavia doesn't give Washington everything it wants. Belgrade is disgusted. What have the 'Democrats' delivered? * Sky high prices - the cost of electricity now vastly exceeds wages; (1) * Arbitrary rule - the 'police' who tried to arrest Slobodan Milosevic March 28 had women's stockings pulled over their faces like minor actors in a gangster film. (2) * The dismantling of Yugoslav industry under the guise of repaying foreign debts via a "Donors" [read: Creditors'] Conference; (3) * And the threat that thousands who defended their country in the honorable Yugoslav Army will now be arrested on rumor of war crimes and possibly sent to what most Yugoslavs consider the Serb-killing Court at the Hague. (4) Several leading members of the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic (ICDSM) were in town to attend the demonstration. The ICDSM sponsors the petition to FREE MILOSEVIC! which Emperor's Clothes has been hosting. (5) These ICDSM members formed a temporary Working Committee and met Sunday the 17th, after which they issued the report below, which speaks eloquently, and for itself. --Jared Israel OUTRAGE TO JUSTICE: THE CASE AGAINST SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC Belgrade, June 17, 2001 The International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic (ICDSM) Working Committee has considered and accepted the preliminary report presented by Christopher Black, after his week long mission in Belgrade. CHRIS BLACK'S CREDENTIALS Mr. Black is a Canadian lawyer with a great deal of experience with and knowledge of the so-called International War Crimes Tribunals. He has written several papers on their structure, financing and role in the New World Order. Mr. Black is one of the group of lawyers, led by Professor Michael Mandel, who in May, 1999 brought war crimes charges against NATO leaders and officials for their responsibility for the criminal aggression against Yugoslavia. During the week of June 11, Attorney Black was in Belgrade on behalf of the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Miloshevich. His goal: to determine the facts concerning the arrest and detention of Mr. Miloshevich and to report his conclusions to the ICDSM and to the public. FINDINGS The following findings are based on Mr. Black's report, as well as other well-known facts: After meeting with Mr. Toma Fila, counsel for Mr. Milosevich, with officials of the Ministry of Justice, with the Deputy Presiding Judge of the Belgrade District Court and with the Investigative Judge and others involved in Mr. Miloshevich's case, it is clear that there is not a shred of evidence that Mr. Miloshevich committed any crime. The inability of the present regime to produce any evidence against Mr. Miloshevich after all this time can lead to only one conclusion: that his arrest and detention are for political reasons. Several other factors support this conclusion: His position as leader of the Socialist Party; The attempted abduction and threat to his life by forces unknown on the first night of the arrest drama; The massive police presence before he voluntarily surrendered, meant to portray Miloshevich as dangerous and an escape risk, at the same time terrorizing his supporters and family; The timing of the arrest attempt - at night - under cover of darkness to heighten the elements of surprise and intimidation; The hurried attempt to arrest Miloshevich in time to meet a deadline set by Washington, which is criminally responsible for the war of aggression against Yugoslavia; The accompanying arrests of 250 other members of the SPS and YUL on similarly vague charges of "misuse of power" - the signature of political arrests. It is also clear that his arrest has two main political objectives: a) to discredit, demoralize and destroy the SPS, YUL and other progressive and patriotic forces in Yugoslavia who still believe in national sovereignty and honor; b) to help the NATO criminals justify their aggression against the people of Yugoslavia, which, if successful will have devastating consequences for the people of this beautiful country, the Balkans and the whole world. DEMOCRACY NEEDS LAW & JUSTICE The DOS regime calls itself "democratic". But real democracy can not exist without the rule of law and without economic and social justice. Their attempt to change the law after the fact to allow extradition in order to hand Mr. Miloshevich over to the Hague tribunal is a violation of the universally accepted legal principle that criminal laws cannot be enacted retroactively. The DOS leaders have tried to justify their proposed extradition law on two grounds. FALSE JUSTIFICATION FOR EXTRADITION First, they say that such a law is constitutional because while the Yugoslav Federal Constitution forbids extradition of Yugoslav citizens to another country, the Hague Tribunal is not another country. This is sophistry. When the Yugoslav constitution was written there was no tribunal, so of course no tribunal was mentioned. Clearly the intention was to prevent extradition of citizens. Moreover, the Serbian Republican Constitution simply forbids extradition, without regard to destination. Second, they say that the Tribunal's authority is higher than that of the nation. But from what power does this super-national sovereignty derive? To create a UN judicial body with binding authority requires treaty ratification by individual nations. This was never done with the Hague War Crimes Tribunal. Thus it has no authority over Yugoslavia or any other state. Instead, the Security Council simply set up the War Crime Tribunal on the authority of the UN Charter, Article VII. But Article VII does not grant the SC the right to create judicial bodies. In setting up the court, the Security Council acted ultra vires. The Tribunal is an illegal body. HAGUE TRIBUNAL: MADE IN USA (4) At an award ceremony, held at the American Supreme Court on April 5, 1999, the President of the Hague Tribunal, Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, acknowledged that the Tribunal was essentially created by Madeline Albright, the Soros Foundation and various agencies in and around the United States government. That same month, Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour held a joint press conference in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright. Thus Arbour, a key figure in a supposed war crimes Tribunal, endorsed the conduct of a government waging criminal war even as the bombs were falling. The various Yugoslav and Serbian officials with whom Attorney Black met all conceded that there was no evidence of any kind against Slobodan Miloshevich. They justified their actions on the grounds that they were doing what the U.S. government wanted. The DOS leaders are not demanding that Yugoslavia's national sovereignty be surrendered to the Hague Tribunal. They are demanding that Yugoslavia's national sovereignty be surrendered to the United States. ICDSM DEMANDS On the basis of these findings, the ICDSM demands that the DOS regime obey the rule of law and release Slobodan Miloshevich and all other political prisoners immediately. No Yugoslav citizen or anybody else should be extradited to the Hague Tribunal. *** Attorney Black's report was unanimously adopted by the following people, meeting as the ICDSM Working Committee, on June 17th, in Belgrade: Professor Velko Valkanov, Member of Parliament, President, Bulgarian Antifascist Union. Professor Valkanov is founder and Co-Chairman of the ICDSM. Professor Mihail N. Kuznecov, Russian Federation, Vice-Chairman, ICDSM Sergei Dovgan', President, Peasants' Party, Deputy of Parliament, Ukraine, Vice-Chairman, ICDSM Fulvio Grimaldi, Journalist and Film-Maker, Rome, Italy, Vice-Chairman, ICDSM Aldo Bernardini, Professor of International Law, Italy Christopher Black, ICDSM International Lawyers' Group, Canada [To read the ICDSM petition to FREE MILOSEVIC, go to http://emperors-clothes.com/petition/petition.htm To read comments by signers of the ICDSM petition worldwide, go to http://emperors-clothes.com/petition/states.htm ] *** FURTHER READING: 1) "Bringing 'The Normal Life' To Yugoslavia," by Jared Israel at http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/soars.htm Drawing from a wire service dispatch, the article documents current economic conditions in Yugoslavia and compares current reality to the promises made nine months ago by the current authorities, and the warnings made by its opponents, including us. 2) "A Pogrom in Belgrade," by Jared Israel at http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/jared/sjf.htm The gruesome killing of a long time Jewish activist in defense of Yugoslavia is placed in the context of the growing desperation of the governing authorities, and terror 3) "We Accuse: Aid Promises Are A Traitorous Lie!" at http://emperors-clothes.com/docs/fools.htm Washington loves to control the terms of discourses, and people in Yugoslavia are supposed to debate: Should we turn over Miloshevich and others who fought NATO in exchange for massive aid? But what if the promises of massive aid are a cynical deception? What if Yugoslavia is being asked to give up its national sovereignty by cooperating with an illegal Tribunal and be rewarded with - economic devastation? 4) "Illegal Tribunal - Illegal Indictment," by Prof. Hans Koechler at http://emperors-clothes.com/docs/prog2.htm Prof. Koechler, who has done much important consulting work for the United Nations, examines the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the "Hague Tribunal," and finds it entirely illegal. 5) Petition demands: "Free Milosevic! Hands off Yugoslavia!". Can be read at http://www.emperors-clothes.com/petition/petition.htm URGENT APPEAL! 22 JUNE 2001 TO THOSE WHO HAVE DONATED TO OUR FUNDRAISING APPEAL - THANK YOU! BUT EMPEROR'S CLOTHES STILL URGENTLY NEEDS HELP! Nobody funds Emperor's Clothes. Our only source of money is people like you. All contributions help, big and small. Our work has expanded but our income has not. We are now several months behind on long distance and international phone bills. All but local service has been turned off. We have other big bills too, including for Lexis, our key research tool. We use long distance for interviews (if we need a translator, this involves a three-way call) to consult with writers, to check the accuracy of information and sometimes to discuss articles being translated. We also use international calls to help write and edit articles for media besides Emperor's Clothes. Using international long distance, we were able to stay in constant touch with the unarmed witnesses guarding Mr. Miloshevich's house when it was attacked March 28th and 29th. That is why you could read accurate news on Emperor's Clothes - the only honest reports available anywhere. After the attack, by using international phone calls we were able to talk directly with people involved in the negotiations between Mr. Miloshevich and the current Serbian authorities. So we knew first hand that the 'NY Times' report that Mr. Miloshevich was suicidal during the talks was a lie. Because we need to use the phone so much, our bills are well over a thousand dollars a month. Now our long distance and international service has been turned off because we owe almost $5000. We are in danger of losing phone service altogether. In addition, we owe over $1500 to Lexis, a key research tool, which allows us to check the accuracy of newspaper excerpts and quotes over the past 20 years. If everyone who cares about Emperor's Clothes chips in, we'll be out of trouble in no time. If everyone chips in - $20, $50, $100 or $1000 - we'll be out of danger in no time. Here's how you can help... 1 - The easiest and most reliable way - Call us any time at (USA) 617-916-1705 and we will take your credit card information over the phone. 2 - OR use our secure server at http://emperors-clothes.com/howyour.html#donate 3 - Or mail us a check - to Emperor's Clothes, P.O. 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