> From: "Dave Kuehne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Dave" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Bill Clinton convicted of war crimes > Date: Sunday, September 24, 2000 1:27 AM > > Source: > Virtual New York > http://www.vny.com/ > > Belgrade gives Clinton, others 20 years in jail > http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=120278 > > Thursday, 21 September 2000 13:19 (ET) > > By STEFAN RACIN BELGRADE, Yugoslavia, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The district court > in Belgrade Thursday sentenced President Clinton, Secretary of State > Madeleine Albright and 13 other top Western and NATO leaders to a maximum > 20 years in prison for the use of weapons prohibited under international > law and crimes against the civilian population during last year's NATO air > campaign against Yugoslavia. > > Veroljub Raketic, the presiding judge, said the arrest warrants would be > issued for the convicted leaders and their sentences would start as soon as > they are arrested. > > During the four-day trial in the biggest courtroom in the Palace of > Justice, in which 14 seats labeled with the names of the accused were left > vacant, the officially appointed lawyer defending Clinton told the court he > could cite as an extenuating circumstances that Clinton came from "an > incomplete family and lived with a step-father which probably left a mark > on his overall behavior." > > Another court-appointed lawyer defending Albright asked the court to take > into account her repressed psychological state as a woman subordinated to > the U.S. president and the fact that she had never before been sentenced > for war crimes. > > Apart from Clinton and Albright the convicted included Defense Secretary > William Cohen; British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary > Robin Cook; French President Jacques Chirac, Foreign Minister Hubert > Vedrine and Defense Minister Alain Richard; German Chancellor Gerhard > Schroeder, Foreign Minister Joschka Fisher and Defense Minister Rudolf > Scharping; the former and present NATO Secretaries General Javier Solana > and Lord George Robertson; and the former NATO Supreme Commander in Europe, > Gen. Wesley Clark. > > They were ordered to pay legal costs within 15 days of the sentences taking > effect under pain of enforcement. > > The indictments said that the accused were responsible for NATO forces > using 31,000 shells each with 300 grams of depleted uranium at eight > locations in Serbia and Montenegro and that 10 tons of this kind of > ammunition were dropped on Kosovo. This specifically polluted the > environments of villages in the vicinity of Vranje, Bujanovac and Presevo > in southern Serbia causing various types of cancer and death, according to > the indictments, the court said. > > NATO also dropped a huge quantity of cluster bombs in the areas of Nis, > Sombor, Kurumlija, Podujevo, Kraljevo, Novi Sad, Mount Kopaonik and other > places, killing 34 people including an 8-month pregnant woman and leaving > many other people seriously or slightly injured, the indictment said. > > -- Copyright 2000 by United Press International. > All rights reserved.
