President Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague ‘Tribunal’
30 October 2001
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC:
I demand that you disqualify the prosecutor for obvious reasons, and I will mention only two. First, we heard her yesterday, loud and clear, reading the indictment concerning Kosovo, which only deals with events from the 24th of March until the end of first week of June, when, second, the whole planet knows that it is exactly from the 24th March until the first week of June, inclusive, that NATO committed its criminal aggression against Yugoslavia.
The indictment and what we have heard implies that NATO did not commit aggression against Yugoslavia, but rather that Yugoslavia committed aggression against itself and therefore the consequences of seventy-eight days and seventy-eight nights of bombing Yugoslavia, in which 22,000 tons of bombs were delivered causing huge number of victims – these are not effects of any NATO aggression, but instead are the effects of the aggression Yugoslavia committed against itself.
This is not simple partiality. Partiality is too mild a word. What we have heard surpasses even what we used to hear from the enemy side, i.e., from the NATO spokesman. Thus, it is obviously a case of what you would call total partiality. If the court is able to remain blind to the fact that from the 24th of March to the first week of June aggression was committed, that the number of victims was huge, that 22,000 tons of bombs was delivered and that an attempt is being made to blame all this on Yugoslavia, as if it had committed these crimes against itself, and to absolve NATO – and I think that even such an illegal court must take into account these facts – if the court does not want to take into account these facts, then it is obvious this is not a court, but only a part of the machinery for the execution of crimes against my country and my people.
If the latter is the case, if the court will not take into account even such flagrant bias and would disregard such a crucial matter as the aggression, so as not to disqualify the prosecutor for impudently presenting untruth and for siding with the aggressor, if that is the case, and therefore the court is part of the machinery, then, please, read the verdicts you have been instructed to reach and stop bothering me – making me listen for hours to texts written at the level of a seven-years old child; to put it more precisely – a retarded seven-year old child. Do not bother me, read your verdicts. I think all of this up to now has been a farce. If what we heard yesterday is accepted, that Yugoslavia committed aggression against itself and that there are no consequences of the NATO aggression as far as the prosecution is concerned, all that follows would be a circus. That’s why I am suggesting that you reach the verdicts immediately so as to avoid all the procedural problems you are facing.
Second I wish to tell you something and to warn you. I wish to warn you that these trials have a direct influence on inducing terrorism in the south of Serbia. I wish to warn you that these days, these weeks and months Albanian terrorists at the south of Serbia are cutting throats, setting the fires, raping, beating up, plundering and doing everything else they used to do in Kosovo and Metohia. They were given wings because in distinction to the current American administration that has declared an antagonistic position regarding terrorism, the previous administration was in alliance with terrorism. They knew that Osama bin Laden was in Albania two years after he demolished their embassies. They even commented on that fact when meeting with me and my associates. So, please do not induce terrorism in the south of Serbia because people there are suffering too much. You should also bear in mind that because of such terror and under the Untied Nations auspices 330,000 persons were driven from Kosovo and Metohia. 330,000 mainly Serbs under the auspices of the United Nations.
JUDGE MAY:
We have heard that and we would be very glad to hear what you have to say, whether there is something you wish to say regarding your physical and mental state. [Note this is an English retranslation from the Serbian.]
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC:
So, now I have to limit my comments only to that, is that it? OK.
Then I wish to request of the court, since I have heard that the opposite side insists that I have no ‘privileges’ in regard to an expeditious trial, so that I understood your plan is to have the trial last some three years, let me at least not be discriminated against in respect of treatment. Therefore I request that cameras be removed from my prison cell, and that you cease to have your officials present when my family visits. The explanations for cameras in the cell are senseless. It is explained that cameras are needed to prevent me from committing suicide.
I wish to declare here in front of this ‘court’ that I would never commit suicide because first of all I do not want to do that to my children and my family, to make them children of one who committed suicide.
Secondly. I would never commit suicide because I have to fight here, to destroy this ‘court’ and this mockery of a trial and it’s employers who are using this ‘court’ against people fighting for freedom in the world.
Thus, kindly remove the cameras and the officials, because the rule, that cameras could be installed for one month is being abused for four hours now without any reason, misusing the one month rule because you have the power to do it.
That is what I am requesting, not to be privileged, but not to be further discriminated against, at least in that respect. As far as monitoring of other meetings, taping of telephone conversations, etc., that you ordered, that’s your problem, you may continue to do that. After all, when my family is here your officials don’t have to be present – you may eavesdrop, even without their presence, so I would ask you to free me of this unpleasantness as much as possible.
***
The Hague, 29th October 2001, Afternoon
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC:
What we have just heard shows by itself that the indictment is false and it is also the proof which Mr. Robinson asked for in relation to the bias of that false indictment and of the prosecutor. And that is for two reasons. First, there is a total intention to completely switch the roles played by the two sides in the conflict…
(At this point the microphone was turned off)
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC:
This indictment is the second act of the crime committed against my people, because it proclaims the victim to be the culprit in order to protect the real culprits for the crime against Yugoslavia. It is absurd to accuse Serbia and the Serbs for the armed secession of Croatia that caused civil war, conflicts and sufferings for the civilian population. The indictment even attempts to refute the late Croatian boss Franjo Tudjman who, in his message to the Croat people, said…
(At this point the microphone was turned off)
