HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
"You accuse me of the most horrific crimes and now you want to convict me on the basis of invisible witnesses," Milosevic told the court. "I do not accept anyone's testimony unless the witness appears here." [In another, better, era the fact that a falsely accused, illegally jailed and deported former elected president of a sovereign country would be granted the right to cross-examine witnesses in his own trumped up trial wouldn't appear to be such a triumph for world jurisprudence. But given the times and the circumstances.... The only living head of state who has heroically stood up to the powers that are perpetrating or sponsoring genocide [genos, race or group + cide, kill) from Afghanistan to Palestine, from current Kosovo to Colombia, will continue to turn the tables on the true war criminals and those guilty of the most egregious crimes against humanity.] Milosevic Permitted to Ask Questions Tue Mar 12, 9:46 AM ET By KATARINA KRATOVAC, Associated Press Writer THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal ruled Tuesday that Slobodan Milosevic has the right to cross-examine all witnesses, even those who submit their evidence only in writing. The ruling was a small victory for the former Yugoslav leader, who heatedly objected to a prosecution request to excuse 23 witnesses from appearing in court to save time, in a trial projected to take up to two years. Prosecutors said the evidence would be similar to testimony given by other witnesses on the indictment for crimes in Kosovo, concerning mass deportation and the persecution of ethnic Albanians. Judge Richard May said the tribunal would accept the written statements, but on the condition that the witnesses are available to appear for cross-examination. The ruling also restricted the number of written statements to four witnesses from each Kosovo municipality. Milosevic challenged the prosecution's request Monday, calling it "absurd" and insisting on his right to cross-examine. "You accuse me of the most horrific crimes and now you want to convict me on the basis of invisible witnesses," Milosevic told the court. "I do not accept anyone's testimony unless the witness appears here." The former Yugoslav leader, who studied but never practiced law, has refused to appoint a lawyer and is conducting his own defense. He is charged on separate indictments for crimes in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia during the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and could face a life sentence if convicted on any one of 66 counts. A Kosovo Albanian schoolteacher, Hazbi Loku, continued a harrowing account about a massacre of 20 men who were thrown into a water well and killed in the village of Kotlina, near the border with Macedonia. Loku broke down in tears on Monday as he described the victims in the well screaming and begging for mercy until Serb forces threw explosives into the pit and blew them up. On Tuesday, Loku displayed photographs of the 20 men and four other elderly ethnic Albanians from Kotlina who were killed in the March 1999 attack. One was his brother. Milosevic complained the prosecution was "manipulating with half-truths," and asserted that Kotlina, on the slopes of Mount Sara just across the border from Macedonia, was a significant transit route for arms smuggling and a rebel stronghold. He read from a 1999 report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation (news - web sites) in Europe that said the Kosovo rebels were "emptying out villages, using houses as fortified positions, triggering a reaction from Serb forces." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
