|
> > URGENT ACTION: PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THIS INTERNATIONAL APPEAL TO STOP THE > WITCH HUNT AGAINST SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC > ( http://www.srpska-mreza.com/action/appeal.htm ) > > MARCH 10, 2001 > > We, the undersigned, wish to register our disgust with and > opposition to the planned trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan > Milosevic by the current Serbian authorities at the request of the United > States and its NATO partners. > > While NATO's criminal aggression against the people of > Yugoslavia goes unpunished, and reparations go unpaid, we are witnessing the > repulsive spectacle of DOS ministers and officials (the new regime in > Belgrade) serving as judicial handmaidens to NATO's criminal leaders and > their illegal puppet court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the > Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague. > > We charge the ICTY and the American government with falsifying > war crimes charges against President Milosevic solely for the purpose of > manipulating public opinion against "the Serbs," justifying NATO's barbaric > 78-day campaign of terror against Yugoslavia in 1999, and to deflect > attention from the bombing's horrific consequences. Meanwhile, the ICTY has > exonerated its NATO sponsors of responsibility for a host of well-documented > war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the deliberate bombardment > of vital civilian infrastructure, conspiracy to initiate a war of > aggression, the lethal targeting of journalists, the use of anti-personnel > weapons such as cluster bombs in areas of high civilian concentration, and > bombing with the intent and effect of unleashing environmental catastrophe. > > Having cleared her NATO paymasters of criminal responsibility > for their deliberate bombing of Radio Television Serbia (RTS) in Belgrade, > which killed 16 journalists and support staff, ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla > Del Ponte now asserts that Mr. Milosevic and the RTS director, Dragoljub > Milanovic, were culpable in these victims' deaths because they had been > "notified in advance" that the facility would be bombed! Despite Del Ponte's > promises, no evidence to support these charges has been made public. Mr. > Milanovic has been ordered detained by a Belgrade judge, a clear effort by > the DOS forces to dignify Del Ponte's outrageous claim. > > While some DOS spokesmen refer openly to the need to cooperate > fully with the ICTY, others affect a different-sounding stance, calling for > prosecuting Mr. Milosevic in a "Serbian trial," on charges of "corruption," > and "war crimes." But their call for a domestic trial of Milosevic is > nothing but "patriotic" fakery: a pathetic trick aimed at concealing their > own craven duplicity in carrying out the orders of their foreign masters. As > the experience in Russia and the rest of Eastern Europe has shown, bowing to > Western pressure will never improve living standards; and imposing political > repression will only leave deep and long lasting scars on the national > psyche. > > Let it be known that we categorically reject the case against > President Milosevic: > > * Milosevic the so-called "ethnic cleanser" preached > multinational unity, not nationalist intolerance. His famous 1989 speech > that supposedly called for Serbs to shed Albanian blood actually said: > "Yugoslavia is a multinational community and it can survive only under > conditions of full equality for all nations that live in it." The effort to > prosecute Milosevic is an attack on all who support multinational unity. > > * Milosevic conducted no persecution of Albanian civilians: he > did not drive Albanians from Kosovo, except to clear civilians out of a zone > of combat and bombing. Albanians who fled Kosovo fled NATO bombs and ground > combat between KLA rebels and Yugoslav federal troops. Some 100,000 Yugoslav > Albanians lived peacefully in the Serbian capital of Belgrade throughout the > war, suffering no ethnic persecution. > > * The most notorious "atrocities" for which Milosevic is accused > never happened: the 40 Albanians found dead in Racak were never "executed" > but in fact were KLA troops killed in action in a variety of encounters, > then laid out together in a ditch for the cameras. The 1500 bodies > supposedly buried in the Trepca mines were never found. NATO specialists > sent in to find proof of mass extermination of 100,000 Albanians in fact > found only 2,800 bodies. And most of those were neither Albanian civilians > nor even Albanians, but rather Serbs, Romas, Egyptians, Goranis and other > victims of KLA atrocities. > > * There is no evidence whatsoever for the most preposterous and > recent charges: that Milosevic knew in advance of the bombing of the RTS > television station in Belgrade but let 16 people die to create outrage > against NATO, or that thousands of Albanians were stuffed into meat grinders > and disposed of in mineral mine-shafts in Mitrovica, etc. > > A trial of Milosevic on these false and outrageous charges would > be nothing but a travesty of justice, a contemporary "show-trial." Those > Western leaders who pursue it put the lie to the claims that the United > Nations is a defender of the sovereignty of nations, or that NATO is a > defender of freedom. This witch hunt also exposes the leaders of the present > government in Yugoslavia as traitors to their own people who dishonor the > Serbian nation and its great history of resisting foreign invaders, > including most notably the Nazis in World War II when the Serbs stood alone > against the Nazi onslaught. > > Crimes were committed in Yugoslavia - but not by Milosevic. They > were committed by American and NATO leaders who authorized a low-grade > nuclear war that specifically targeted civilians and left huge portions of > the country contaminated for the next 4.5 billion years with radioactivity > from depleted uranium armaments. > > Crimes were committed by the American leaders who casually > ignored their own constitution's requirement that wars be formally declared > by Congress and then violated the UN Charter and numerous international > conventions. > > A crime will be committed if the twice-elected President of > Serbia is kidnapped from his own country and made to stand "trial" in an > artificially created, American-made "court" that goes under the > fancy-sounding name of an international tribunal. > > And a crime will be committed if the obedient, made in the USA > government in Yugoslavia endangers the safety of President Milosevic in any > way that might allow gangsters or bounty-hunters to cash in on the $5 > million bounty posted by the US for delivering him into captivity. > > Slobodan Milosevic's real offense was that he tried to keep the > 26 nationalities that comprise Yugoslavia free from US and NATO colonization > and occupation; his nation's resources, industries, and media from being > stolen by multinational corporations; his nation's institutions from being > controlled by US consultants and advisers. His real offense was to defend > his nation's freedom and sovereignty from a political "opposition" bought > and paid for by the United States and installed into power by US specialists > in psychological operations. He and all those now under attack resisted > Western colonization to the very end, even as American naval ships waited > off the coast of Yugoslavia to ensure the "correct" results in Yugoslavia's > contested elections. > > Shame on those DOS leaders who consort and conspire with NATO > politicians while seeking to assign the blame for NATO's crimes on the very > patriotic and progressive figures who did the most to fight NATO's > neo-colonial aggression! In doing so, the DOS dishonors itself and > desecrates the memory of those who lost their lives to NATO war crimes. > > DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST DRAGOLJUB MILANOVIC! > STOP THE POLITICAL WITCH-HUNT AGAINST PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC > AND ALL FORMER YUGOSLAV LEADERS NOW! > BRING THE NATO-KFOR WAR CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE! > > Barry Lituchy, New York City > Jim Yarker, Toronto, Canada > > > TO JOIN: Please email your name, location (town, state and country) > > to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > |
