AFP (with additional material by BBC). 9 January 2002. UN war crimes judge cuts Milosevic's microphone again.
THE HAGUE -- Former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic was thwarted on Wednesday when he again attempted to use a pre-trial hearing before the UN war crimes tribunal to attack the court as illegal and biased. Presiding judge Richard May cut the defendant's microphone several times when he tried to launch into political speeches, repeating a pattern of events seen at Milosevic's four earlier hearings before the court in The Hague. "The aim of the trial underway is to reverse the scene, the culprit and the accused to justify the crimes committed during the NATO agression against my country," Milosevic told the court during a hearing to prepare his trial for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. Mr Milosevic accused NATO of killing innocent people, destroying hospitals, bridges and railways, and siding with, in his words, Albanian terrorists. He also accused the court of being biased and politically motivated. "You will have the opportunity to outline your defence in trial. Now is not the time for speeches," Judge May retorted as he cut Milosevic's microphone. The former Serbian president started questioning the legality of the tribunal only to have his microphone cut again, with May saying the court had already ruled on that argument. The judge again asked Milosevic if he had any comments on procedural matters or the outline of the trial which the court had presented to him. A visibly agitated Milosevic attacked the court for not being impartial. "The indictment has been writted according to what the British intelligence said. The judge is an Englishman," he complained. May cut his microphone again and adjourned the hearing. During his earlier appearances before the tribunal, the translation of Milosevic's angry statements was also repeatedly cut when he veered too far off the subject for the judge's liking. Milosevic, the first head of state to be tried for war crimes, has repeatedly raised the same issues during his court hearings. He contends the UN war crimes court was created illegally and says his trial for alleged atrocities in the Serbian province of Kosovo in 1998-1999 is part of an international conspiracy to cover up crimes by NATO during the alliance's bombing raids on Serbia at that time. Wednesday's hearing took place amid a legal battle between the prosecution and the trial chamber over the decision to hold two separate trials for Milosevic. The prosecution has asked for a single trial joining the tribunal's three indictments against Milosevic -- for crimes in Croatia (1991-1995), Bosnia (1992-1995) and Kosovo (1998-1999). At Milosevic's last appearance the judges decided there should be two seperate trials -- one for bloodshed in Kosovo, scheduled for Febuary 12, and one covering events in Bosnia and Croatia to start as soon as the Kosovo trial is over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
