Posted on 07/06/2004 8:30:16 PM PDT by Destro
Milosevic forced to accept defence counsel
Ian Black in Brussels
Wednesday July 7, 2004
The Guardian
Slobodan Milosevic is fit to continue standing trial but may not be well enough to represent himself, the war crimes tribunal in The Hague ruled yesterday. The three judges made it clear that the former Serb president may be forced accept a defence counsel, because the burden of doing it himself was damaging his heath, and that the trial was not, contrary to speculation, about to collapse.
Mr Milosevic, 62, suffers from recurrent and chronic high blood pressure and heart problems.
Judge Patrick Robinson suspended the hearing on Monday, when Mr Milosevic was due to begin his defence, on being told that he was at risk of a heart attack or a stroke and urgently needed rest.
"It is in the interests of the accused and the broader interests of justice that this trial be conducted and concluded within a reasonable period of time," the judges wrote.
"There is no evidence that the accused is not fit to stand trial at all, but there is evidence that ... [his health] is such that he may not be fit to continue to represent himself, and that his continuing to represent himself could adversely affect the fair and expeditious conduct of the trial."
They ordered that the court registrar identify counsel to represent Mr Milosevic. His agreement is not required.
"It may be necessary to assign counsel to the accused, and/or adopt other measures to ensure a fair and expeditious conduct of the trial," they wrote.
First, Bush is not in any opposition to what Milo is in now. Second, maybe Hillary as president all to happy to give George up or at least Cheny or Rumsfield.
Germany, at that point, was under the rule of the occupying powers. Therefore, German law was whatever the occupying powers said it was. Keep in mind, if the Nazis had been charged under the laws existing prior to the end of the war (i.e., Nazi law), they probably wouldn't be found guilty of anything, since their actions didn't violate German law of the time.
and conducted fairly (allowing for presumption of innocence and possible acquital of some Nazi officials).
IIRC, some Nazi officials were acquitted.
How Nazi-ish, eh? Germany was the occupying power - setting up death camps was her right as that occupying power?
Whatever you think of the Nuremburg Trials, there were not dozens of secret "witnesses" in closed sessions as is the style in the Milosevic "trial." The Nazis provided the evidence for their own crimes in writing and photographs, they were that thorough.
Pehaps catholics allied themselves with the islamists one too many times...
Like some of them still are "supportive" of islam and the palistinians and their 'holy jihad' against Israel today.
And how many orthodox have the muzzies burned to the ground in serbia? HUNDREDS.
It's a religious war, and CHURCHES are NOT safe havens.
If muzzies and their allies were hiding in the churches and amongst civilian populations at the time... I have zero problem with killing them anyway, in a kill or be killed war.
The friend of my enemy... is MY enemy. Burn it down.
Milosevic's wars were ethnic conflicts - Catholic churches represented Croat history, and were thus destroyed in their hundreds by Milosevic's followers, just as Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo represent a presence the K-Albanians would rather be forgotten.
Say, if the freind of your enemy is your enemy, and the Serbs were selling arms to Saddam, what the hell are you doing siding with your enemy here?
Do you really want to equate the US, UK and France to Nazi Germany? (granted, the USSR was also an occupying power, but the presence of the other 3 kept the Russians from doing everything they wanted to do).
If the occupying powers did not have the right to try the Nazis, who did?
Said it better than I did.
If it had been up to me, I would have given him the Mussolini treatment for what he did to the Serbian people. Same for his witch of a wife and his idiotic thug of a son.
Holy Jesus - did you actually think what the position I and others took was that the Nazis should not be tried? We wanted them tried but the Nuremburg procedures were a flawed way to do it. Instead of say trying them for example on a charge of the Orwellian sounding crimes against peace - a crime never before enumerated - how about violation of treaties - how about simple murder? Also if you can't understand the conept of ex post facto law how can you continue this conversation?
As stated, Desro, you have issues.
Serious issues.
I can't go on vacations?
It's generally considered bad form to vacation amongst and be buddy buddy with those directing hostile fire against our servicemen, Destro.
The Nuremberg trials dealt with crimes of a scope that humanity had not seen before, at least not in the modern world. To try the Nazis for violating treaties or comitting simple murder did not address the true horror of what they did.
Also if you can't understand the conept of ex post facto law how can you continue this conversation?
I understand the concept quite clearly, but concepts of law meant to apply to crime within the framework of a functioning country do not really work in a situation like post-war Germany.
The occupying powers were faced with a situation where they could (i) exact victor's justice by executing everyone in the German government above a certain rank (ii) do nothing to punish the unprecedented crimes before them or (iii) try to come up with some sort of process that would punish the guilty while clearing non-criminal members of the German government.
The end result wasn't perfect, but it did a pretty good job of punishing those members of the German government responsible for mass murder, aggression against other nations and genicide, among other crimes.
Al Qaeda Recruited U.S. Servicemen for Bosnia: Testimony Links Plot To Saudi Gov't
Judicial relevance, eh? slippery slope time...
The Serbs would have hung Milosevic long ago.
Nobody's talking about any American inside Srebrenica, Destro - you're claiming to have been an American outside of Srebrenica, happily vacationing amongst those who were shooting down our pilots not a month before.
Occupying powers were not so foolish as to dismantle the existing body of laws and replace it with anarchy, terror or arbitrariness. At least not in the Western sectors.
Most of German laws predated Nazi regime and most of Nazi crimes were secret and illegal according to the laws on the book. There was MORE THAN ENOUGH to prosecute them. But as I said such strict adherence to the spirit of the law was very undesirable to Stalin.
Actually you are mistaken. Genocide of Russian Christians took place EARLIER and was on MUCH BIGGER scale. Bolshevik murderers were among the judges in Nuremberg and this fact alone made the trial a mockery of justice.
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