Posted on 10/12/2004 7:46:08 PM PDT by Destro
Milosevic trial told Albanians deliberately provoked attacks on civilians
10:40 PM EDT Oct 12
ARTHUR MAX
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Testifying for the defence in Slobodan Milosevic's war crimes trial, a German journalist told the court Tuesday that ethnic-Albanian separatists in the former Yugoslavia deliberately attempted to provoke an attack on civilians by Serb troops.
The journalist, Franz Josef Hutsch, a former German army major who spent months with the Kosovo Liberation Army in 1998 and 1999, also said the KLA ran drugs and prostitutes into other parts of Europe to finance weapons purchases.
Hutsch described the KLA as a well-organized force, assisted by officers from Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Morocco who had trained somewhere in Turkey.
KLA tactics during the ceasefire in late 1998 included staging hit-and-run attacks on Serb patrols designed to "force them into a trap and try to provoke an excessive reaction" in order to hasten foreign intervention, he said.
They also tried to lure the Serbs into attacking civilians in early 1999 so the images would be shown during peace negotiations taking place in Rambouillet, France, he added.
The testimony came after a month-long recess in which the case resumed much as it had left off - with Milosevic demanding that he be allowed to fire his court-appointed lawyers and represent himself.
The former Yugoslav president accused his trial judges of offering him only "scraps of rights."
But presiding Judge Patrick Robinson cut him short, saying, "I don't want a speech" and told Steven Kay, the appointed defence lawyer, to continue his questioning of Hutsch.
Both Kay and the prosecution filed briefs to an appellate court on whether Milosevic should be allowed to again lead his own defence.
Kay contended that Milosevic had a "fundamental right" to defend himself, while the prosecution argued that the repeated delays caused by Milosevic's ill health defied the need for a speedy trial.
Medical reports have said Milosevic's chronic high blood pressure could become life threatening under the stress of defending himself, something he did during the trial's first two years.
It was not clear when the appeals court would hand down its decision, but in the meantime Kay was continuing the defence case but hampered by Milosevic's refusal to co-operate.
The prosecution wrapped up its presentation in February.
Dozens of witnesses Milosevic had planned to call have refused to testify unless the former Serb leader is allowed to question them himself.
Milosevic is accused of unleashing Serb troops who committed atrocities while quashing a rebellion in Kosovo, a southern province of Serbia dominated by ethnic Albanians. Eventually NATO launched a 78-day bombing campaign to force the Serbs to end the crackdown.
Milosevic has described the Kosovo war as a defensive action against terrorists.
TESTIMONY ABOUT THE WAR THAT WAS "STAGED" IN KOSOVO
you attack civilians, you are automatically in the wrong, im sorry.
as an example: whatever injustice the palestianians suffered doesnt excuse their actions against israeli civilians, and similarly whatever fighting was going on between the rebels and the governement forces doesnt excuse what milosovich's army did.
That's why the KLA used civilians as sheilds and targets - to get the press.
that doesnt explain everything that was done during that war. neither side were angels, but milosevic's forces commited some utterly despicable acts on pretty grand scales. we didnt go into iraq and start taking the men out into the fields.
What bad deeds said was done by Milosevic's forces was a lie spread by the Clinton admin and their willing media accomplices. And what Clinton did - side with al-Qaeda allies the KLA discredits anything we did in that nation. Clinton and his accomplices made the situation worse not Milosevic.
Tell that to the Iraqis on the "Highway of Death". We killed more Iraqis than the Serbs killed Albanians.
KLA Commander Remi expells 220,000 Albanians during Kosovo Bombing
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a3936a8471c59.htm
KLA killed moderate & loyalist Albanians in 1998 and 1999
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a3a8d74920fd6.htm
KLA Lied says Danny Pearl in WSJ 1999
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a386c976f6ffa.htm
KLA members of Remi's unit arrested for killing Albanians during 98/99
/focus/fr/617945/posts
KLA murders some 1,000 Albanians
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/765813/posts
KLA Prevent Reconstruction of Racak Event
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/focus/news/646128/posts
KLA- British troops hunt down former KLA men the West (ie Clinton) once trained to fight Serbs http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/846509/posts
Kosovo - Photos of KLA leaders at their trials for war crimes
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/785313/posts
Kosovo - Remi Arrested by Kfor for murdering Albanian civilians
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/731440/posts
Kosovo - Why does Kfor support KLA killer Remi ?
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a38a336d53291.htm
Kosovo and Code of Lek (Globe Dec 2001)
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3c13a5590df1.htm
Kosovo OSCE observers admit to distorting their 'neutral' reports to favour KLA
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/focus/news/650948/posts
Kosovo- Complete Analysis of the Incident at Racak
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/focus/news/686417/posts
Such as?
Bosnia did - yes.
"I was in the region the day of and saw with my own eyes what happened".
Either that, or you've run afoul of the 21st Century's counterparts of the suckers who went around denying defending Stalin's actions - long after such activities ceased to be carried out with any honesty.
To put it bluntly, Slobo's defenders hereabouts are a bunch of liars, and you shouldn't contemplate wasting too much time or efforts on their account, as no amount of evidence shall sway them from their erroneous views upon the subject.
As you say sweneop, neither side were angels, something we are seeing through the increasing number of indictments for war crimes being "delivered" to the other parties involved in the Balkan wars. In relation to Srebrenica, German journalist Franz Josef Hutsch testified just yesterday that in an interview he conducted with General Mladic in 1996, Mladic had told him "he received no orders from Belgrade or Mr. Milosevic regarding the attack and that he wouldn't have taken any."
In regards, to Hoplite's comment about "Slobo's defenders hereabouts are a bunch of liars", the fact is that most of us regulars on the Balkans threads haven't never claimed that Milosevic is an angel. What we try to do is balance out the media reporting on the Balkans war by posting articles which show some of the Serbian point of view. Blaming Milosevic for everything that happened in the Balkans is unrealistic. It takes two to tango as the old saying goes, and in the Balkans it was several different parties doing the "tango".
You may be interested in the following, in relation to what I wrote in post 12:
First UN War Crimes Trial of Kosovo Albanians Opens November 15
13 October 2004 | 20:38 | FOCUS News Agency
The Hague. The UN war crimes court will start its first ever trial of former ethnic Kosovo Albanian guerrillas accused of committing war crimes during the 1998-99 conflict in Kosovo on November 15, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Three former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) Fatmir Limaj, Haradin Bala and Isak Musliu are accused of "cruel treatment, torture, inhumane acts and murders" committed against Serb and ethnic Albanian civilians in the Lapushnik KLA prison camp in eastern Kosovo in 1998. All three pleaded not guilty to the charges after their arrest in February 2003, announced AFP.
According to the indictment, they "participated in maintaining and enforcing the inhumane conditions at the camp, which included inadequate food and medical care, and participated in or aided and abetted the torture and beatings of the detainees".
Limaj, a former official in the Party for Democratic Kosovo (PDK) of former KLA leader Hashim Thaci, is accused of being responsible for a dozen murders of Serbs and ethnic Albanians committed by men under his command.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=49699&ch=0&datte=2004-10-13
do you think Slobo is gonna try to pin the blame for Srebrenica on French intelligence again?
and yet you keep defending them
Didn't years pass which later proved the lies about Serbs killing the muslims in the Tuzla Market Square became lies. Later proven that the muslims detonated the explosives.
Racak was a fabrication, the Albanians want a clear clear path to run drugs. They know the Serbs will not allow crime, so the Albanians resort to killing ALL and will do WHATEVER it takes to get their way.
What do you know about the 2001 Presevo Fighting between the Serbs and Albanians?
What is the reason for the Albanians to fight the non-albs|| Serbs, gypsies, anti-KLAers, etc...? Enligthen me, sweeney.
I think he's not going to be in a position to do anything until he gets over the hissy fit he's throwing in regards to his legal representation - one of the ICTY's stipulations for it's lawyers is that they not knowingly misrepresent the facts, so with Slobo's defence now in the hands of actual lawyers, his courtroom strategy is all shot to hell.
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