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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE TO DEFEND SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
ICDSM Sofia-New York-Moscow www.icdsm.org
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Velko Valkanov, Ramsey Clark, Sergei Baburin (Co-Chairmen),
Klaus Hartmann (Chairman of the Board), Vladimir Krsljanin (Secretary),
Christopher Black (Chair, Legal Committee), Tiphaine Dickson (Legal
Spokesperson), Cathrin Schuetz (Alternate Secretary)
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17 July 2007 Special Circular
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[EMAIL PROTECTED] tel. +381 62 423 915
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DEATH OF PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC IN THE ICTY CUSTODY WAS THE PEEK OF CRIMINAL
MISBEHAVIOUR OF THE ICTY. THE SERBIAN AUTHORITIES DIDNT TAKE ANY ACTION ON
THIS GROUND, BUT THE ICDSM WILL GO ON!
The current situation and the planned legal action are described in the
interview with Maitre Tiphaine Dickson below. This action will also depend
on your support!
V. Krsljanin
Tiphaine Dickson is a member of the Québec Bar, practicing primarily in
international criminal law. She was lead counsel in one of the first UN
genocide trials before the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania. Maitre Dickson was also
Legal Spokesperson of the International Committee to Defend Slobodan
Milosevic (ICDSM) and she currently represents Mira Markovic.
Question:
Maitre Dickson, you are representing the wife of former Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic, Mira Markovic, in a legal investigation regarding the
circumstances of his death in custody while he was standing trial before the
ICTY. The official version is that he died of a natural cause, namely by a
heart attack. What gives reason to doubt this information?
Maitre Dickson:
President Milosevic's death in custody was a disgrace. At minimum, that
shocking outcome deserved a thorough, serious, scientifically sound, and
above all, independent and impartial investigation. Instead, the ICTY, which
does not even explicitly guarantee the right to a trial by an independent
court, assigned one of its own judges, Kevin Parker, to head an "internal
inquiry". Slobodan Milosevic died only two weeks after the ICTY Trial
Chamber denied his request for provisional release, with guarantees from the
Russian Federation - a permanent member of the Security Council, need it be
added - for medical care at the Bakoulev Scientific Centre for
Cardiovascular Surgery in Moscow.
Question:
And this ICTY report is the basis for the official cause of death?
Maitre Dickson:
Yes. This so-called "Parker Report", in broad strokes, exonerates the ICTY,
and blames President Milosevic for his death. It does so with surprising
lapses in logic and shaky reasoning, but in fairness, without a truly
independent investigation, and without the benefit of outside experts,
perhaps not much more could have been expected.
However, President Milosevic's family does expect, and is entitled to, a
full accounting of circumstances surrounding his death, which was denied to
it by the Parker Report. Marko Milosevic made plain to Mr. Parker, in an
open letter drafted a year ago, that the content and conclusions of the
report were "unacceptable", and pointedly remarked that "the autopsy was
conducted without the presence of the independent expert team sent by our
family, even though we insisted on it", "that the Russian doctors were
denied the access to the body and the tissue samples", and that the family
was denied access to the blood samples. The family's letter also raised
persuasive objections to the legitimacy, objectivity, and propriety of the
ICTY investigating itself.
Question:
So in other words the ICTY, the same institution that denied Slobodan
Milosevic the needed treatment, judged the circumstances of which he died.
Maitre Dickson:
It is difficult to comprehend that not only was Slobodan Milosevic not
granted the adequate medical care he had repeatedly requested, but that the
cause of his death was not investigated objectively or transparently. Not
even the questions put to the ICTY by the Russian Federation were adequately
addressed, according to Ambassador Churkin, speaking at the 5453rd meeting
of the Security Council. It is therefore impossible to accept the findings
of the ICTY's internal inquiry, since beyond defects that can be discerned
in a superficial reading of the report, the panel suffers from the fatal
flaw of-at the very least-the appearance of partiality. Nemo judex in sua
causa. One cannot be the judge of one's own case.
Justice and minimal decency demand full disclosure of information obtained
by the "internal enquiry" to President Milosevic's family. The findings, as
they now stand, are unpersuasive, and a bereaved family is entitled to
know-without institutional interests being brought to bear-the truth about
their loved one's death in custody.
Question:
In your capacity as legal spokesperson of the International Committee to
Defend Slobodan Milosevic (ICDSM) you have met Milosevic on several
occasions in detention. You addressed the media in The Hague on the day the
case was terminated due to Milosevic's death.
Maitre Dickson:
I was, in fact, that very day scheduled to hold a press conference
supporting President Milosevic's appeal against the decision to deny him
provisional release to Moscow for a number of tests and likely interventions
that had been requested by specialists who had found his condition to be
life-threatening in late 2005. We were very concerned about the
deterioration of President Milosevic's health, and hoped that he would
rapidly receive the treatment he required to pursue his defense in The
Hague, and perhaps, to save his life. Unfortunately, my attendance at The
Hague on March 14th, 2006, followed his death by a few days. I could only
emphasize to the press that all medical data should be made public, and
expressed the hope that the Secretary-General of the United Nations would
accept to waive the civil and criminal immunity of any and all UN employees
and subcontractors responsible for President Milosevic's death. It was a
gruesome, shameful trip, one that was meant to support his medical
provisional release, and certainly not to take stock of his death.
Question:
So if he would have been granted the therapy he may still live?
Maitre Dickson:
Permit me to put it this way: I strongly doubt that had President Milosevic
been allowed to receive treatment at the Bakoulev Center in Moscow, he would
have died in March 2006, as he did.
Question:
Milosevic's family openly calls it murder.
Maitre Dickson:
Last year, Marko Milosevic expressed his outrage with the findings of the
Parker Report, and made the following comment:
"The question isn't whether or not my father was murdered or
poisoned. The point is that a former head of state, being held in UN
custody, was gravely ill and constantly complaining of his medical
condition. His health condition was assessed many times by medical experts
as dire. He was denied adequate (if any) medical treatment, and then he
died. At the same time those who denied him treatment were undeniably
aware of what the consequences would be. He asked for provisional release
to receive medical treatment. Dr. Shumilina warned on November 6th
(2005) that his condition was so critical that he could die at any
moment."
He went on to state:
"The guaranties had been granted, and the ICTY ignored all of it.
Obviously deliberately for they were aware of all the facts, both general
and subtle. So he died.
The Tribunal, and everyone in charge, has committed a deliberate
murder. They condemned him to death on February 24th when they rejected
his request for provisional release, ignoring everything: his health
condition, his rights, and the warnings of his doctors, which unlike the
jail physician hired by the ICTY, had both - unquestionable competence
and expertise, as well as his confidence. Ignoring even the guarantees of
The Russian Federation (by the explanation that those guarantees
lacked credibility, it seems that the Tribunal has given itself the mandate
to evaluate the credibility of even the Security Council's permanent
member states). The ruling handed down on February 24th came into
effect on March 11th. That is the fact and the truth. Any other
speculation is just evasive political manoeuvring. "
This is to say that all the facts about Slobodan Milosevic's medical
condition were known, and yet, with deliberation, no steps were taken to
ensure that he not die. In fact, the ICTY Trial Chamber denied-- in spite of
unambiguous recommendations from highly reputable specialists and security
guarantees from the Russian Federation-- a motion to permit him to obtain
the treatment he urgently required in Moscow.
What is now needed is complete and transparent disclosure of all medical
evidence-- including blood and tissue samples-- to examine the facts without
concern for institutional reputation or appearances. I am not surprised by
the family's characterization of Slobodan Milosevic's utterly shameful death
in custody as "murder". They are well placed to know how serious his
condition was, and how his attempts to obtain appropriate treatment were
thwarted, leading to the most irreparable consequence: he was found dead.
And as it stands there remain, despite the findings of the Parker Report,
too many unanswered questions for any family in similar circumstances not to
affirm that their loved one was murdered.
Question:
While the health problems of Milosevic were well known and led to several
adjournments of his trial, the media often complained about Milosevic's
alleged "tactics" to "disrupt" the process when talking about his illness.
Maitre Dickson:
President Milosevic's health problems were widely discussed, and
interestingly, the facts were often twisted to suit angles adopted by the
press, even when contradictions were glaring. For example, it was often
alleged that President Milosevic was feigning illness when confronting
"damning evidence" by the Prosecutor, and yet it was precisely when he was
set to begin his own presentation of evidence that it was suggested that he
was "too ill" to represent himself. Presumably, in the latter case, illness
would not be a result of fear of evidence, or at least not from the
standpoint of President Milosevic.
I think it important to point out how-despite undeniably serious medical
issues-President Milosevic, though firmly and consistently demanding the
respect of his right to adequate medical treatment, complained little, and
how industriously and efficiently he worked during the entire period of his
detention in The Hague. He was focused and was determined to demonstrate- as
he had stated on many occasions-that there had been one war: a war against
Yugoslavia. That he maintained composure and dignity throughout the
proceedings only heightens the dismay that he was left to die without
adequate medical treatment, and that his death was blamed on him. His family
understandably refuses to accept such a shocking state of affairs, and
frankly, anything called justice deserves infinitely more than what they
were offered. We are determined to bring to light all the facts about this
disgraceful and pointless death, for the sake of truth, and for justice, two
ideas that have been perverted enough.
A shorter version of the interview was published in the German daily Junge
Welt on Monday, July 16, 2007
DONATIONS for this legal action are most urgently needed!
Transfers should be made to:
Vereinigung für Internationale Solidarität (VIS) e.V.
BIC (SWIFT): POFICHBE
Bank: Swiss Post Postfinance, CH-3030 Bern
IBAN: CH35 0900 0000 9198 2587 8
For more information please contact:
Vladimir Krsljanin, ICDSM Secretary, [EMAIL PROTECTED] tel. +381 62 423
915
or
Cathrin Schuetz, ICDSM Alternate Secretary, [EMAIL PROTECTED] tel. +49
1788 656 159
Serbian News Network - SNN
[email protected]
http://www.antic.org/
