Email: info@icdsm-us.org

Website: www.icdsm-us.org

Yahoo group: icdsm-us

For Immediate Release:

1. U.S BASED DEFENSE COMMITTEE TO JOIN PROTEST OVER TRIAL OF MILOSEVIC IN THE HAGUE ON NOVEMBER 8TH

2. THE ICDSM-US ALSO ANNOUNCES ITS NEW WEBSITE AS EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATION RESOURCE

1.   ICDSM-US TO DEMONSTRATE AT THE HAGUE NOV. 8^TH:

The U.S. section of the International Committee for the Defense of Slobodan Milosevic announced on Nov. 1st that it supports the demonstration called for the following week, Nov. 8, in The Hague, Netherlands. The protest is directed at the illegitimate NATO frame-up of the former Yugoslav president.  The ICDSM-US also announced that it will be sending one of its members, John Catalinotto, to represent them at the protest.

While the ICTY purports to be concerned with crimes committed in Yugoslavia, the ICDSM-US concurs with the many legal experts who say the ICTY was illegally established and conducts itself in violation of all judicial norms. Worse still, its actions and barbaric two and a half year detention of the former President of Yugoslavia have so severely damaged Milosevic’s health that his very life now hangs in the balance. The Hague Tribunal is tantamount to a calculated murder.

The Hague rally in defense of President Milosevic coincides with a massive upsurge of political protest in Serbia. Over the last several days there have been demonstrations of thousands of workers and trade union activists in Belgrade demanding that the pro-NATO government step down. The government then ordered vicious police attacks on the protesting workers, who call for an end to privatization of state companies. This comes in the wake of the Western takeover of the Serbian economy following the ouster of Milosevic three years ago.

The ICDSM-US comprises a team of more than two dozen writers, academics, attorneys and peace and human rights activists, all of them long and prominently associated with the issue of Yugoslavia and now determined to win the freedom of the imprisoned President. The ICDSM-US also sees Milosevic's defense as part of the struggle of the people of Serbia and of the former Yugoslavia to resist being turned into a colony of the West and that is why we consider this defense important. 

The Hague protest, initiated by the Sloboda organization in Belgrade, is supported by organizations of Yugoslav and Greek immigrants living in Western and Central Europe and by the national sections of the ICDSM in Europe, the U.S. and Canada. It demands that Milosevic be released from prison and be given a minimum of two years to prepare his defense. The prosecution has presented its case, which many have commented is rather weak, over the past 18 months.

A similar demonstration last June drew several hundred people to The Hague.

For more information, write to info@icdsm-us.org

2.  ICDSM-US LAUNCHES A NEW WEBSITE:  WWW.ICDSM-US.ORG

The ICDSM-US also announced on November 1^st that it had established a website at http://www.icdsm-us.org/ to provide information about the trial, ongoing protests, and a selection of news and analyses about developments relating to the defense work in the U.S. and around the world. The site currently features an archive of over 130 speeches, interviews and statements of President Milosevic relevant to the trial and recent events in the Balkans.

The central purpose of the ICDSM-US website is to publicize the struggle for truth and justice that characterizes the career of the world’s most famous political prisoner – Slobodan Milosevic. The site will in time include all of Mr. Milosevic’s most important public statements since 1987. The site will also contain a well organized collection of ICTY transcripts (soon available with a search engine).

This website is a unique resource for anyone interested in the history of the Balkans over the last 15 years. The documents speak for themselves. They dispel the myths about the conflict in Yugoslavia and reveal the massive falsification of recent history by NATO governments. Indeed, the government and media demonization of President Milosevic has been so filled with lies and calumnies that it is revelatory to read Milosevic's own statements. And since the demonization of Milosevic extends to both Yugoslavia and the entire Serbian people, the ICDSM-US hopes that its website serves as an antidote to combat this type of racism.

The ICDSM-US in its founding statement last September wrote that it "rejects the legitimacy of this trial and that of the International Criminal Tribunal on the Former Yugoslavia as well. But at the same time we cannot stand by without protesting the gross violations of fundamental legal, democratic and human rights visited upon Mr. Milosevic by this court."

Again, for more information, write to info@icdsm-us.org