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The Corporate Propaganda Industry: as cynical as always.... Bill Howard wrote: > > [Via Communist Internet... > http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] > > [Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ] > . > . > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2002 4:32 AM > Subject: Milosevic war crimes case faces collapse > > > > > From: "Magnus Bernhardsen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Subject: [Peoples War] Milosevic war crimes case faces collapse > > http://news.independent.co.uk/world/europe/story.jsp?dir=73&story=116523&hos > > t=3&printable=1 > > Milosevic war crimes case faces collapse > By Vesna Peric Zimonjic in Belgrade > > 26 January 2002 > > The trial of Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes in Kosovo is on the verge > of > collapse because former aides have refused to testify against him. > > The case hinges on evidence collected by Western intelligence officers > rather than the UN's own investigators, and some of the 90 witnesses who > provided testimony against the former Yugoslav president have died. > > Three weeks before it is due to open, Europe's most important war crimes > trial since Nuremberg is reported to be in such disarray that > prosecutors > travelled to Belgrade earlier this week to try to shore up the case. But > despite visiting several of Mr Milosevic's allies in their jail cells > and > homes, the team led by the British barrister Geoffrey Nice came away > empty-handed, according to sources in Belgrade. > > Mr Nice flew to Belgrade on the same flight as Mr Milosevic's wife, > Mira, > who had been visiting her husband in his cell in Scheveningen in the > Netherlands. > > Mr Milosevic is accused of the murder of 900 Kosovo Albanians and the > forced eviction of 800,000 civilians from their homes in 1999. > > The UN tribunal was adamant yesterday that it was "ready" to try Mr > Milosevic for crimes against humanity in Kosovo. But Florence Hartmann, > a > spokeswoman for the UN chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, said the court > may decide next week to postpone the case, which is due to begin on 12 > February. > > Prosecutors want judges to join the Kosovo trial with indictments > against > Mr Milosevic for war crimes in Bosnia and Croatia, for which there is > said > to be abundant evidence. Judgesare due to discuss unifying the > indictments > at a hearing on Wednesday. If they do, they would have to postpone the > trial to allow more time for preparation of the Bosnian and Croatian > cases > against Mr Milosevic. > > Ms Hartmann denied that the Kosovo case was collapsing: "We are ready. > We > don't have any problem with the Kosovo case," she said. > > But the case has a fundamental weakness in that the testimonies it > relies > on are exclusively from Western officials based in Kosovo before Nato > air > raids began in March 1999, and from ethnic Albanian victims. The > credibility of some of these testimonies is in doubt because they were > gathered by intelligence officers, and not by the tribunal's own > investigators. > > Members of Mr Milosevic's inner circle could provide the missing pieces > of > the puzzle, but it is unlikely that any regime insiders, who share Mr > Milosevic's Serb nationalist views, would travel to The Hague to testify > against the so-called "Butcher of the Balkans". > > His supporters still describe the armed ethnic Albanian rebellion in > Kosovo > as "terrorism", and view the trial against Mr Milosevic as a Western > conspiracy against freedom-loving Serbs. They fear being branded > "traitors > of the Serb nation" if they testify. > > Serb authorities are still balking at Mr Nice's request for two top > Milosevic aides be handed over. Nikola Sainovic and Vlajko Stoiljkovic > were > respectively the official in charge of the security forces in Kosovo and > the Interior Minister. The pair, along with their boss, were indicted > for > war crimes in Kosovo in 1999. > > The UN team interrogated Rade Markovic, chief of the secret service > under > Mr Milosevic, in his Belgrade prison cell three times. Mr Markovic is on > trial for his alleged role in an assassination attempt against the > former > opposition leader Vuk Draskovic. > > Mr Markovic's lawyer, Dusan Masic, said his client was willing to go to > The > Hague, but analysts doubt that his testimony would benefit the > prosecution. > > > _________________________________________________ > > KOMINFORM > P.O. Box 66 > 00841 Helsinki > Phone +358-40-7177941 > Fax +358-9-7591081 > http://www.kominf.pp.fi > > General class struggle news: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Geopolitical news: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > __________________________________________________ > > > --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
