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http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?f=/stories/20020314/331299.html NATIONAL POST, Thursday, March 14, 2002 LETTERS Milosevic an 'innocent man' Edward Greenspan's article on the Milosevic trial states the truth about the trial being a lynching (This is a Lynching, March 13). It is not true Mr. Milosevic is a thug, a piece of propaganda many in the West have absorbed from the constant parroting of the NATO line by the Western media. A man who was freely elected three times in elections even the United States viewed as fair, who believes in a multiethnic society of tolerance and real social democracy and who, as the investigative judge and deputy minister of justice in Belgrade told me last June, "is not guilty of a thing in Yugoslavia," is not a thug, he is a brave man fighting against the consequences of globalization and the depredations of the American Empire. That aside, Mr. Greenspan's comments on the conduct of the defence are well taken. But what Mr. Greenspan and your readers may not be aware of is that Mr. Milosevic has been denied the right to counsel since his illegal transfer to the Hague last June. None of us on the legal committee seeking to assist him have been permitted to consult with him confidentially except Ramsay Clark, who was permitted one such visit but had documents for Mr. Milosevic seized by the guards at the former Gestapo prison in Scheveningen. Every conversation has been monitored. Every phone call. Documents that have been sent to him have on several occasions disappeared. Arrangements for press conferences have been interfered with by the secret police. Every obstacle to prevent him from getting the advice he needs, which even a common thief is entitled to here, has been thrown in his path. In such conditions it is impossible for lawyers to offer him the benefit of their advice on how he might best conduct his defence. It is a scandal of world importance yet the western press has completely refused to tell the public despite our repeating this information at every opportunity and from every hilltop. Mr. Milosevic for all intents and purposes has been and is being held incommunicado and it is about time the Western press which so prides itself on liberal values demonstrates this by demanding that the Hague tribunal provide this innocent man the right to counsel without which all other rights are meaningless. Christopher Black, barrister, chair, legal committee, International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic, Toronto. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.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 ==^================================================================
