Posted on 02/15/2002 3:36:15 AM PST by Arkle
Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic says he will call ex-US leader Bill Clinton and other Western politicians to testify at his trial for war crimes at The Hague.
On the second day of his defence case, he has repeated his allegation that Nato is itself guilty of crimes against humanity.
Mr Milosevic, who is conducting his own defence, said he also wanted to question Germany's former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel.
Mr Milosevic is allowed to call whoever he likes as a witness. The court has the power to subpoena them but the judges do have to be persuaded that their testimony will be relevant.
During his arguments on Friday, the ex-Yugoslav leader said former US President Bill Clinton had ordered the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade because he wanted to go down in history as the first Western leader to bomb Chinese territory.
Washington insisted the bombing was a mistake by Central Intelligence Agency target planners using an outdated map.
Mr Milosevic also said his forces had intercepted radio communication between the Nato command centre and the pilots in Kosovo in May 1999.
He said the pilots had spotted a convoy and reported that it was of civilian tractors, but the response was: "Carry out your orders."
Mr Milosevic said: "Dozens of persons were killed."
The thrust of his argument, as on Thursday, was that Nato itself was to blame for the deportation and killing of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo in 1999.
Mr Milosevic is accused of orchestrating a systematic campaign of mass murders, deportations and rapes as part of a plan to create an ethnically pure Serb state out of the ruins of former Yugoslavia.
Dressed in a smart navy suit and a tie in the red, blue and white Serbian colours, Mr Milosevic showed photographs of corpses, as he did on Thursday, of those he said had been killed in Nato bombing raids.
The court looked at pictures of a baby covered with blood and dust lying in a field, a young man with only half his face and the unidentifiable remains of many others.
The BBC's John Silverman says Mr Milosevic only appears interested in waging a political atttack on Nato and is completely ignoring the charges on which he is being tried.
The first months of the case will focus on Kosovo; then it will move on to the wars in Bosnia and Croatia. The entire proceedings could last two years.
"The whole world knows this is a political trial," he told the court on Thursday, responding to the prosecution case which was outlined during the first two days of the trial.
Judge Richard May reminded Mr Milosevic he needed to wrap up his defence on Friday, in line with a two-day limit. Mr Milosevic replied that he was only about half way through his statement and did not think his time should be restricted.
Once he has concluded his arguments the UN tribunal prosecutors will start calling up to 350 witnesses to present the full case against him.
Mr Milosevic rejects the legality of the court and has refused to appoint lawyers to defend him in what is being described as the most important war crimes trial since the Nuremberg trials after World War II.
He is the first former head of state to be indicted before an international tribunal.
On Thursday Mr Milosevic showed a German documentary which cast doubt on the 1999 massacre of about 45 ethnic Albanians by Serb forces in the Kosovan village of Racak - an incident that helped trigger Nato intervention.
He argued that alleged mass killings were in fact clashes with terrorists.
But the editor of WDR television was quoted by Sueddeutsche Zeitung as saying that Mr Milosevic has misused the documentary, which did not seek to exonorate the former president.
"Even the film-makers have no doubt that Milosevic is a war criminal," Joerg Schoenenborn told the paper.
So, clinton is on the stand and the constable says: "bill, do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
clinton replies: "Truth?"
"Whole truth?"
"So help me God?"
clinton continues by saying: "I don't believe there is absolute truth, and as far as my god is concerned, well he is the father of all liars." "And it all depends on the definition of 'do'."
Mark
The bombing raids on Trinidad begin in five minutes.
Wouldn't that be something to see. 'Ol Billy Jeff taking the witness stand and trying to defend himself against Milosevic's allegations.Unfortunately, we all know that Clinton isn't about to take the stand after his last episode that cost him his membership in the Arkansas bar.
But it would be fun to watch...
"Well what were you doing watching NBC?! Don't you know..."Yeah Yeah Shut Up.
Excerpt:
Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic says he will call ex-US leader Bill Clinton and other Western politicians to testify at his trial for war crimes at The Hague.
On the second day of his defence case, he has repeated his allegation that Nato is itself guilty of crimes against humanity.
Mr Milosevic, who is conducting his own defence, said he also wanted to question Germany's former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel.
Mr Milosevic is allowed to call whoever he likes as a witness. The court has the power to subpoena them but the judges do have to be persuaded that their testimony will be relevant.
During his arguments on Friday, the ex-Yugoslav leader said former US President Bill Clinton had ordered the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade because he wanted to go down in history as the first Western leader to bomb Chinese territory.
And what, tell me, would be the point of this? It has already been established that the pig lies under oath, cannot explain himself due to lack of memory on any subject, and cannot understand the simple definition of what a simple word "is."
If anyone should be dragged before that international criminal gang of berobed bewigged clowns in the Hague, first among them should come the Neo-Axis twins "Turd-Way Tony" Blair and his anti-soul sidekich, the lying, thieving, mass-murdering co-serial rapist Billy-Bubba KKKli'ton!
In the continental codex based law it is not always true. Either way this is not a real court but a classic show trial. Milosevic is a smart and brave man. God bless him (even if he is not a believer). He fights for all of us against the new tyranny.
Duh!!!..."Yeah yeah, now shut up shuttin' up."
You actually think clintoon would pass up a chance for mug on TV time??
I must say, though, that while I think Clinton should be brought to trial for his crimes, while I still work at trying to figure out just to what extent genocide or any such thing occurred under Milosevic, this trial IS a farce!
It may well legitimize this court in the world's eyes, but it is NOT a good thing. I, for one, am ashamed of the part our nation played in bringing Milosevic before it. He should have been tried in his own country, by their own courts.
Long live national sovereignty!
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