Milosevic Defends Himself on War Crimes Charges
VOA News
15 Feb 2002 14:54 UTC
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Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has again challenged the impartiality of The Hague Tribunal and says he will call top present and former U.S. and European leaders to testify in his war crimes trial.

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The former Yugoslav leader again showed graphic photographs of death and destruction in the Balkans and accused NATO of atrocities as he presented his opening arguments for the second day. Mr. Milosevic blamed the West for the deadths and injuries and the destruction of property during the conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo in the 1990's. He said NATO military forces intentionally bombed civilians in Serbia and the Chinese embassy in Belgrade and drove out ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. He then accused the tribunal of ignoring what he called NATO crimes and exempting their perpetrators from prosecution.

The former Yugoslav leader then announced his intention to call top U.S. German, Italian Norwegian and United Nations officials as witnesses in his case. They include former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Mr. Milosevic had his first chance to rebut war crimes charges Thursday and spoke for about four hours.

Mr. Milosevic insists his trial "has nothing to do with the law" and calls the charges against him "fabrications."

Thursday, leading political parties in Serbia criticized Mr. Milosevic for suggesting that his actions in the Balkans reflected the will of the Serbian people.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP, Reuters and DPA.

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