Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Slobo, Can I Borrow Your Suit?
The legend of Slobodan Milosevic just keeps growing. Last winter, while being interrogated for a future appearance on the witness stand, Canadian journalist Scott Taylor marvelled at the surreal experience of having the former president of Yugoslav make him coffee in a plastic cup. "How many sugars?"
Now that the kangaroo court is feeling the heat. Ordered to rope in its last remaining fugitives and wrap things up, it is resorting to desperate measures. Such was the case with the kidnapping of Johan Tarchulovski, the former bodyguard of late president Boris Trajkovski, wanted for alleged war crimes at the Ljuboten engagement of 2001, along with the former interial minister Ljube Boskovski.
Rather than protest the Hague's risible denial of the real war crimes committed during the 2001 war in Macedonia, the government proved only too eager to expedite the tribunal's brand of vigilante justice, by keeping the indictment secret until it's g-men showed up unannouced at the Tarchulovski's residence and dragged the former bodyguard off. Of course it was all illegal and unduly heavy-handed, but then again so is the court that it so slavishly served in the kidnapping and, needless to say, immediate extradition of Tarchulovski.
So where does Milosevic fit into all this? Apparently, when Tarchulovski was so unceremoniously dragged off, he was clad only in leisure wear ( his sweatpants ) and was neither allowed to change nor take any of his clothes or other personal belongings with him.
Therefore, when it came time for Johan to make his first appearance before the judge, he found that he had nothing to wear. Rising to the occasion, Slobodan Milosevic himself selflessly offered to lend Tarchulovski his suit.
The offer was gratefully accepted, though no doubt the strapping bodyguard must have found the suit of the relatively diminutive ex-president to be a less perfect fit than did Jackie Chan in The Tuxedo.
Although this affair generated a certain amount of mirth when reported last week in the Macedonian media, what we still don't know is whether "Slobo, can I borrow your toothbrush?" or "Slobo can I borrow your underwear?" were uttered.
Now that the kangaroo court is feeling the heat. Ordered to rope in its last remaining fugitives and wrap things up, it is resorting to desperate measures. Such was the case with the kidnapping of Johan Tarchulovski, the former bodyguard of late president Boris Trajkovski, wanted for alleged war crimes at the Ljuboten engagement of 2001, along with the former interial minister Ljube Boskovski.
Rather than protest the Hague's risible denial of the real war crimes committed during the 2001 war in Macedonia, the government proved only too eager to expedite the tribunal's brand of vigilante justice, by keeping the indictment secret until it's g-men showed up unannouced at the Tarchulovski's residence and dragged the former bodyguard off. Of course it was all illegal and unduly heavy-handed, but then again so is the court that it so slavishly served in the kidnapping and, needless to say, immediate extradition of Tarchulovski.
So where does Milosevic fit into all this? Apparently, when Tarchulovski was so unceremoniously dragged off, he was clad only in leisure wear ( his sweatpants ) and was neither allowed to change nor take any of his clothes or other personal belongings with him.
Therefore, when it came time for Johan to make his first appearance before the judge, he found that he had nothing to wear. Rising to the occasion, Slobodan Milosevic himself selflessly offered to lend Tarchulovski his suit.
The offer was gratefully accepted, though no doubt the strapping bodyguard must have found the suit of the relatively diminutive ex-president to be a less perfect fit than did Jackie Chan in The Tuxedo.
Although this affair generated a certain amount of mirth when reported last week in the Macedonian media, what we still don't know is whether "Slobo, can I borrow your toothbrush?" or "Slobo can I borrow your underwear?" were uttered.
posted by Balkanalysis Blog Editor @ 4/6/2005 07:30:00 PM
