‘Mr Milosevic Is On The Line’
From Sky News, August 25, 2001
“Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic shocked staff at an American television station by telephoning them from The Hague and giving a live interview on air. It is the first time the ex-leader has spoken publicly since his detention on war crimes charges. He claimed he had been a victim of Western propaganda and always acted in the interests of peace.
“Milosevic is being held at the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Netherlands, accused of atrocities against thousands of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999.
‘Engaged for peace’
“His interview with Fox News was cut short when he said guards at the tribunal had told him to hang up but before he went, he said he had been unfairly treated by the Western media when he was labelled a butcher.
“‘I think that was the power of the media and that media was against my country. They had a quite clear idea of how to satanise the country and the leader.
“‘Everybody in my country knows that whatever we were engaged in, we were engaged for peace. I have very, very wide support in my country.’
‘Nato aggression’
“He also refused to apologise for the atrocities he is alleged to have carried out. Milosevic said: ‘Many things happened but you have to be aware of the fact they were just the consequences of criminal aggression that was committed by Nato.’
“This week lawyers acting for him challenged his detention by the United Nations, claiming that he had been ‘kidnapped’ and should be set free.
“His legal representative Erik Hummels said: ‘The Dutch state is at least co-responsible for kidnapping the defendant and other human rights violations.'”
(From Sky News, August 25)
Milosevic rebuked over forbidden interview
By Abigail Levene
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) –
“… The tribunal called the incident ‘regrettable’, noting that its rules forbid detainees from communicating with the media before their cases are closed. Tribunal spokesman Jim Landale said on Friday that Milosevic — accused of crimes against humanity for Kosovo atrocities in 1999 — had received a warning. If he broke the rules again, he could have detention privileges restricted or withdrawn…
NATO DECISIONS ‘CRIMINAL’, SAYS MILOSEVIC
“‘All of us are sorry for the death of any, any person all around the world. There is no question that anybody is happy for the death of any person anywhere,’ Fox News quoted the former Yugoslav president as saying.
“NATO launched a bombing campaign against military targets in Yugoslavia in 1999 following a Serb crackdown in Kosovo.
“‘I’m proud for everything I did in defending my country and my people. All my decisions are legitimate and legal, based on the constitution of Yugoslavia and based on the rights to self-defence, which belongs to every nation in the world.
“‘And their decision — NATO leaders’ decisions — were all criminal,’ said Milosevic, who was ousted by reformists last year and whisked to The Hague in June.
“Fox News said Milosevic denied he ever directed his troops to kill civilians, insisting they were under strict orders to ‘eliminate terrorist groups’. He accused the tribunal of manufacturing evidence.
“‘Of course they have no evidence. They cannot have evidence for things that never happened,’ he said. ‘But this so-called tribunal has one specific characteristic. They are able to fabricate the evidence.'”
