AFP (with additional material by BBC). 29 October 2001. Milosevic says will not read Hague warcrimes indictment.
THE HAGUE -- Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic said on Monday he would not read warcrimes indictments issued against him by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. "I have no intention to familiarising myself with the contents of something that's been totally fabricated and is far from the truth," he said as he appeared at the court for the third time since his transfer to The Hague on June 28 this year. Milosevic looked calm in court, dressed in a dark blue suit and a light blue shirt with the same red, white and blue tie he has worn to his previous court appearances. "Truth cannot be sunk by a flood of false accusations," Mr Milosevic said in a terse statement to the court. One of three "friends of the court" -- independent lawyers appointed by the tribunal after Mr Milosevic refused representation -- called for the United Nations to consider whether the court has the power to hear the case against Mr Milosevic. Mr Milosevic has himself denounced the tribunal as "illegal" on the grounds that it was set up by the United Nation's 15-member Security Council and not by its entire membership in the General Assembly. "You could ask the General Assembly or the Security Council... we have not found any reason why the General Assembly or the Security Council should deny [such a request]," said one of the friends, named in court as Mr Vladimirov. Presiding Judge Richard May said the tribunal would consider Mr Vladimirov's suggestion. The friends also followed Mr Milosevic's lead in questioning the legality of his extradition. But Mr Milosevic has refused to see the three lawyers and on Monday he distanced himself from their statements, saying he wanted nothing to do with them. In a more muted performance than some of his earlier, flamboyant shows of defiance, he made clear again that he does not recognise the tribunal, and claimed it was politically motivated. "I have been accused because... I defended my nation -- I had the honour to defend my nation... from terrorism," he said speaking in Serbian, rather than English as he has previously done. He went on to attack the Clinton administration which led NATO's bombing of Kosovo. "No government had the competence to enter into arrangements whereby the constitution of Yugoslavia was violated," he said. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews with continuing coverage of WWIII _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
