Posted on 12/07/2002 8:13:22 PM PST by Dinsdale Piranha
Amsterdam - Judges at Slobodan Milosevic's war crimes trial took the unprecedented step on Friday of revealing that a secret witness testifying against the former Yugoslav president was one of his key allies.
Milan Babic, an ex-rebel Croatian Serb leader, is one of the most high-profile witnesses to testify so far at Europe's biggest international war crimes trial since World War 2.
Until Friday, he had testified behind a screen and was known only as witness C-061. But judges lifted his "protected witness" status after Babic's lawyer told the court his client wanted to reveal his identity to openly counter allegations made by Milosevic and aid reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia.
Babic and Milosevic openly crossed swords Babic's lawyer added that as a result of media reports in the Balkans, his identity was already widely known and said members of Babic's family had been threatened.
Babic was a central figure in the breakaway Krajina Serb republic (RSK) in the 1990s as the collapse of the former Yugoslavia spurred Serb nationalists to fight for territory in Croatia and Bosnia.
A burly dentist dressed in a dark jacket and grey jumper, Babic was regarded by tribunal prosecutors as one of Milosevic's key allies during a campaign to expel non-Serbs from about a third of Croatian territory in 1991-92.
"This morning presiding judge (Richard) May has said that henceforth the witness will be addressed by his full name Mr Babic and that the protective measures have been lifted," tribunal spokesman Christian Chartier said.
Babic was named by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as a suspected member of a "joint criminal enterprise" led by Milosevic, although he has not been indicted by the court.
'Mr Milosevic in 1991 you waged a horrific war' Milosevic is accused of providing Krajina Serbs with money and military support in a campaign to remove non-Serbs from the hinterland of Croatia's prosperous Adriatic coast. The campaign was seen as a prelude to the brutal Bosnian war in 1992-95.
Babic and Milosevic openly crossed swords during cross examination for the first time on Friday. Babic's image had previously been scrambled on court room closed-circuit television monitors.
Milosevic accused Babic of fanning the flames of conflict with Croatia in the autumn of 1991 and of playing into the hands of Croatia's then-president Franjo Tudjman by giving Zagreb an excuse to attack Serbs in the region.
"Is it clear to you, Mr Babic, that it was evident to me then that you were actually helping Tudjman with your vehement radicalism which went against the interests of the Serbian people in the Krajina," Milosevic said.
Babic, whose posts in Serb Krajina included that of "foreign minister" before the enclave was recaptured in a massive Croatian offensive in 1995, in turn accused the former Serbian and Yugoslav president of betraying the Serb people.
"Mr Milosevic in 1991 you waged a horrific war. You dragged the Serbian people into that war. You did not protect the Serbian people. You brought shame upon the Serbian people. You brought misfortune on the Croatian people, upon the Muslim people," Babic said.
Milosevic has been on trial since February charged with ethnic cleansing in the Balkans in the 1990s. The charges against him include crimes against humanity in Croatia after Zagreb declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
Milosevic, who does not recognise the UN court, refused to plead. Not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf.
Hmm, the professional sources linked in the article say otherwise:
"According to Jane's , in1993 Ceku masterminded the successful HV offensive at Medak, and in 1995 was one of the key planners of the successful 'Operation Storm,' in which the HV quickly defeated [its] Serb opponents.
Ceku also has some well-placed references to go along with that résumé: An unnamed retired U.S. military official told Jane's, We were impressed by [Ceku's] overview of the battleground and the ability to always predict his enemy's next move."
I had never pegged you for a Milosevic supporter, but your recent posts give me pause.
Would you mind clarifying the issue for me and telling me your opinion of Milosevic and his place in the heirarchy of responsibility for Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo?
Thanks.
My opinion? My opionion is that Milosevic was all about Milosevic. He wasn't a nationalist in the pure sense of the word, but played the nationalist card when it suited him politically. Yes, machinations there were. He played "Let's Make A Deal" with Tudjman ref Krajina and BiH, for example. He certainly had his finger on Krajina and BiH.
As for Babic, he will say and do anything to save his little weasel skin.
but your recent posts give me pause.
What in the heck gives you pause? That I have an even lower opinion of Babic than of Milosevic? That I think The Hague is a kangaroo court? That I think the people of the FRY should have been given the satisfaction of trying Slobo? Well, if those things make me a "Milosevic supporter" then so be it.
VRN
actually the infamous success of Operation Storm was due to Clinton's mercs from MPRI who bossed their HDZ puppets around the entire time..............and now with their usefulness over, the HDZ puppets are being cast to the wolves (ie ICTY).
and still the neo-nazi's hanging around Z-grad don't have a clue as to how badly they got screwed by their HumWarrior pals in Washington.
The Croatian and Dalmatian economy has effectively collapsed...........unemployment is stuck at 22-25%....living standards in Croatia and Dalmatia are still some 40% below the 1988 levels........Croatia and Dalmatian citizens suffer under a $12 Billion foreign debt which shows no sign of ever shrinking..........Croatia and Dalmatia are being forced by their HumWarriors pals to spend a few billion on fancy planes and other US and English military toys in order to provide fat profits to US stockholders like myself (thanks).............Croatian and Dalmatian conscripts are now going to be used as cannon fodder in Iraq ( something Croats and Dalmatians are used to, having willingly sent tens of thousands of their menfolk to be wasted in the run-up to Wehrmacht ops around Stalingrad )..............Dalmatian tourist revenue remains stuck at 1/2 SFRY levels...............the Croats and Dalmatians were told by the HDZ that succession would bring immediate wealth and EU memebership......but 12 yeasr later, the EU isn't even speaking to Z-grad about memebership, Croatia and Dalmatia are behind Romania and Bulgaria who are going to become EU members fairly soon............if Croats and Dalmatians are luckey and kiss lots of EU bottoms, they might just join the EU after 2012................
It is truelu a shame and tragedy how low the HDZ has brought the people of Croatia and Dalmatia........it will take 30 years of hard work simply to bring back people's living standards to their 1988 levels.......
Looks like Trop keeps reincarnating himself.
What you fail to realize Dinsdale Piranha is that we don't support Slobo but attack the Kangaroo Court. Slobo was a bastard but that does not mean his defense against the Muslims and Croats was wrong. He had every right to fight the Albanian rebels and every right to try and to keep Yugoslavia whole as is the right of sovreign nations. He was never a patriot in the sense that Karadzic is.
So to sum up, Slobo was a bad man fight a just cause and NATO was a just organization fighting the wrong cause and the UN Court is an abomination to justice and would support Lucifer himself if he was brought before it for trial.
What you fail to realize Dinsdale Piranha is that we don't support Slobo but attack the Kangaroo Court. Slobo was a bastard but that does not mean his defense against the Muslims and Croats was wrong. He had every right to fight the Albanian rebels and every right to try and to keep Yugoslavia whole as is the right of sovreign nations. He was never a patriot in the sense that Karadzic is.
So to sum up, Slobo was a bad man fight a just cause and NATO was a just organization fighting the wrong cause and the UN Court is an abomination to justice and I would support Lucifer himself if he was brought before it for trial.
I think the same. No proof here, either, but all the signs were there.
Maybe Slobo figured it was a lost cause and let the Krajina fall but stiffened up the other parts of Bosnia?
Maybe I've grown too cynical, so cynical I've even mused that Slobo always saw Krajina as a bargaining chip.
This is not the court to find the truth in any case. From what I've read of ICTY transcripts, it couldn't find the truth if it was handed to them in a paper bag. I'm appalled at how that court is run (understatement).
He had every right to fight the Albanian rebels...
Yes, even Klaus Nauman said so in his ICTY testimony. Nauman disapproved of Milosevic not using proportianate force in fighting the KLA terrorists, however. Over and over again, "proportionate force." Did he ever ask himself whether NATO was using "proportianate force" I wonder? Hypocrite, that Nauman.
VRN
Hehehe, and what about a unicorn? Both have been sought after, neither have ever been found.
:)
Of course, the Imperial motto is: use overwhelming force. But then, what's good for the goose is definitely not good for the gander.
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