*** From [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Tomasz Iwanowski) podsylam
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 17:34:39 -0500 > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: VICTORS' JUSTICE by John Laughland > Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > This is being sent on behalf of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > as part of the mailing list that you joined. > List: ICDSM > URL: http://www.icdsm.org > ------------------------------------------------------------ > > > International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic www.icdsm.org > > The URL for this article is: http://www.icdsm.org/more/injustice.htm > > Subscribe to the ICDSM email list at > http://www.icdsm.org/maillist.htm Receive articles posted at > www.icdsm.org > > ======================================= > VICTORS' JUSTICE > John Laughland says that the trial of Slobodan Milosevic has been > rigged to justify Nato's war against Serbia > By John Laughland > From The Spectator * February 09, 2002 * Pg. 22 23 > [Posted 21 March 2002] > ======================================= > > WHATEVER the outcome of the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, which begins > on 12 February and may last for several years, the International > Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has already condemned > itself. For it is difficult to imagine a more perfect paradigm of > injustice than the sequence of events which has led to the > proceedings that get underway next week. > > Let us leave aside for a moment the manner in which Milosevic was > brought to The Hague. His transfer there in exchange for the promise > of millions of dollars in aid, and in direct defiance of a ruling by > the Yugoslav constitutional court, was the very quintessence of > illegality. Far worse is the behaviour of the prosecutor and the > judges, who now betray such a harmony of institutional interests that > it is impossible for anyone to receive a fair trial at The Hague. > > The judges, indeed, have behaved as if they were just another arm of > the prosecution; the prosecution, in turn, behaves in a brazenly > politicised manner. On 1 February, the Appeal Chamber ruled in favour > of a prosecution motion that all three indictments against Milosevic > - for Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia - should be bundled together into > one single trial. Yet there is only one conceivable explanation for > this judicial shenanigan: that the indictment of Milosevic for Kosovo > is irredeemably flawed - the very indictment which constitutes the > moral justification for the 78-day war that Nato fought against > Yugoslavia in 1999. > > That American-led bombing was justified by the claim that genocide > was being planned and executed against the ethnic Albanian population > of Kosovo. Throughout 1999 and 2000, the tribunal and various > self-appointed Balkan experts alleged that more than 11,000 Albanian > civilians had been murdered, and that a plan existed, called > Operation Horseshoe, to drive out half the population. These claims > have now been formally discarded by the tribunal. > > The indictment issued in July 2001 against Milosevic and his > colleagues, which was amended following the exhumation over two years > of more than 2,000 bodies, now accuses them of complicity in the > deaths of 'hundreds of Kosovo Albanian civilians'. It lists the names > of 577 dead people, mostly men of fighting age. > > When asked by Le Monde last year why no charge had been brought for > genocide in Kosovo, the chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, replied, > 'Because there is no evidence for it.' Yet if, as Nato claimed at the > time, the Yugoslav authorities had really intended to destroy the > ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo, there would be no difficulty at > all in proving genocide. > > Instead, the ICTY indictment makes no reference to Operation > Horseshoe, no doubt because it was rumbled in 2000 as a pure > invention of Nato war propaganda. > > Had a trial been allowed to go ahead, therefore, on the basis of the > Kosovo war alone, the weakness of Nato's justification for attacking > Yugoslavia would have been laid bare for all to see. Milosevic might > even have been acquitted of any criminal responsibility for the > deaths of the hundreds of Albanians listed, even if it could be shown > that they were all civilians and not KLA fighters. > > To forestall this eventuality, in October and November last year the > prosecutor quickly brought out two new indictments, for Croatia and > Bosnia. She evidently hoped that the weakness of the Kosovo > indictment would be quietly buried in the general melee And on 1 > February the judges of the Appeal Chamber acquiesced in the > prosecution's demand that all three indictments should be merged into > one single trial. This is in direct contradiction to one of the most > fundamental principles of customary extradition law, namely that a > defendant may not be tried for a crime other than the one for which > he was originally sent for trial. > > The events in Croatia occurred in 1991 and 1992, those in Bosnia from > 1992 to 1995. The Hague tribunal was itself created in 1993. During > the tribunal's eight years of existence, the name of Slobodan > Milosevic has been on everybody's lips. > > Indeed, a formal investigation into his personal responsibility for > the Bosnian war (in which scores of thousands of people were killed) > was opened in 1995. It found that there was no evidence to indict > him, although it did indict the Bosnian Serb leaders. Are we now > really supposed to believe that, ten years after Vukovar and seven > years after Srebrenica, the prosecutors of the ICTY have only just > realised that Slobodan Milosevic was president of Serbia at the time? > > > It seems obvious that these last-minute indictments over Croatia and > Bosnia were issued to cover up the weakness of the Kosovo indictment. > And the judges have connived in this. When Milosevic arrived at The > Hague on 28 June 2001, he was indicted only for Kosovo; the judges > should therefore have dismissed the new Croatia and Bosnia > indictments and waited until Milosevic had been tried for Kosovo > before admitting any new proceedings. > > Even worse than that, there is evidence that the tribunal may have > made a pact with the Bosnian Serb leadership in order to achieve a > conviction of Milosevic - i. e. , with the very people most directly > responsible for most of the killing in Bosnia. In January 2001, one > of the tribunal's most senior indictees unexpectedly turned herself > in to The Hague. Mrs Biljana Plavsic, a darling of the West, was > president of the Bosnian Serb republic from 1996 to 1998; she was a > friend of Arkan and once said that ethnic cleansing was 'natural'; > and she was a member of Radovan Karadzic's government in the Serb > Republic of Bosnia throughout the bloodiest periods of the Bosnian > war. > > When Mrs Plavsic handed herself in, it became clear immediately that > she was going to receive very lenient treatment by the tribunal > because she had offered to testify against Milosevic. Like many > Bosnian Serbs, she hates Milosevic because she thinks he abandoned > them at Dayton: Mrs Milosevic, for her part, calls Mrs Plavsic 'a > psychopath'. > > But the spokesman for the prosecutor, Florence Hartmann, said in > January 2001, 'Mrs Plavsic is in a position to give us a lot of > information. She has co-operated by surrendering and she can continue > to co-operate by testifying. We are hoping she will give evidence > against other suspects.' > > After a couple of in-camera hearings, indeed - the contents of which, > thanks to the tribunal's draconian secrecy rules, will never be > revealed - Mrs Plavsic was told that she would be released pending > her trial. > > In August last year, this woman who has been indicted for genocide > the most serious crime in the tribunal's canon - was allowed to > return to her home in Belgrade, where she presumably now sits > comfortably with her cats. In the looking-glass world of so-called > international justice, therefore, someone who was far more directly > involved in the events in Bosnia than Milosevic was is being treated > leniently, simply because she has agreed to denounce her old enemy, > the former Serb president. > > The tribunal vehemently denies that any plea-bargaining has occurred > between it and Mrs Plavsic. But these denials do not square with the > ICTY's own rules and practice. A Bosnian Croat who pleaded guilty to > executing 100 Muslim civilians at Srebrenica in 1995 was given a > token sentence of five years in prison because he co-operated with > the tribunal. It is inevitable, therefore, that the evidence of Mrs > Plavsic, Milosevic's old political enemy, will be used to obtain his > conviction. Nato, moreover, has still not arrested the two Bosnian > Serb leaders, Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic. > > In 1995, Milosevic's Western opponents alleged that an indictment > against him was suppressed for political reasons, because he was the > West's favourite peacemaker at Dayton. The fact that the political > wind has now changed does not make the decision taken last Friday any > more justifiable, or the Hague tribunal any less of a political > plaything. > > Copyright 2002 The Spectator Limited > > Subscribe to the ICDSM email list at > http://www.icdsm.org/maillist.htm Receive a few articles a week. > > Click here to send the link to this article to a friend. > > Some Useful Articles on the International Criminal Tribunal for the > Former Yugoslavia > ============================================= > > * In 'Illegal Tribunal - Illegal Indictment' Dr. Hans Koechler, the > distinguished philosopher and social-legal analyst associated with > the United Nations examines the Tribunal and does not like what he > finds. Can be read at http://emperors-clothes.com/docs/prog2.htm > > * Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is 'on trial' before > NATO's so-called Tribunal. But that's nothing new. For better than a > decade he has been on trial in the Western media, convicted daily of > doing - and saying - terrible things. When you read the original > documents you discover that the media is ill-informed or lying about > Milosevic's statements and views. This is demonstrated with stunning > clarity by Professor Francisco Gil-White in his article, > > * In 'An Impartial Tribunal? Really?', Attorney Chris Black examines > the Tribunal's history and methods of operations. Can be read at > http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/Impartial.htm > > * Dr. Kosta Cavoski, a distinguished Yugoslav legal scholar, has > written a mind-boggling four-part series. > > > In 'The War Crimes Tribunal vs. Gen. Djordje Djukic' at > http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/cavoski/c-1.htm > and 'The Mistreatment of Col. Aleksa Krsmanovic' at > http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/cavoski/c-2.htm Professor > Cavoski deals with the torture and physical destruction of Serbian > 'defendants'. > > In Illegal Origins' at > http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/cavoski/c-3.htm > Professor Cavoski analyzes the Tribunal's legal rationale, or lack of > same. > > In 'Learning from the Inquisition' at > http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/cavoski/c-4.htm Professor > Cavoski describes the practices of the Tribunal, which thoroughly > violate what we would consider natural legal guarantees. > > > ============================== > The Defense of Milosevic - and the Truth - Needs Your Help! > ============================== > > NATO has billions of dollars and the media to spread lies. We have > the truth, supported by hundreds of millions of people. To develop > legal, educational, parliamentary and other work, our Committee needs > donations, large or small, from those who want to get the truth to > the people. > > Here is how you can help: > > * Contribute via credit card by calling our Dutch or U.S. offices: > > Dutch office: 31 20 6151122 > US office: 1 617 916-1705 > > * Donate over the internet via PayPal at: > https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=icdsm%40aol.com > PayPal accepts VISA and MasterCard > > * Or mail a check to: ICDSM > 831 Beacon St., #295 > Newton Centre, MA 02459 (USA) > > Thank you! > > http://www.icdsm.org > > > > > > Click to be removed: > http://MessageBot.com/r.cgi?[EMAIL PROTECTED]&list=ICDSM > ------------------------------------------------------------ > Powered by http://MessageBot.com/ > Get Cool Images at http://www.flamingtext.com/mb.html > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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