STATEMENT REGARDING WITNESS K-12 AND THE "TRIAL" OF SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - July 16, 2002

Statement by Andy Wilcoxson
webmaster of slobodan-milosevic.org

There is a little reported story unfolding at the Hague tribunal, where the so-called “trial” of Slobodan Milosevic is being conducted.

On June 4th the prosecution called a secret witness codenamed “K12” to testify. Once K12 arrived on the stand he said, “Please tell him, tell the Judge that I have had enough of this psychological processing for two days now, and I've been confused even more and more. I cannot testify on anyone's behalf today, and leave me alone. I'll go crazy this way. And --” With that the Judge cut K12 off and asked him if he intended to answer the prosecutor’s questions.

K12 again tried to explain his situation saying, “If they think I'm guilty of something, then they can put me into prison. If they don't understand why I cannot testify, then I can't explain it any better than this. I've tried to explain this, but if I cannot, I cannot. And if they should think I should go to prison, I'll go to prison, and I'll sit there for as long as it takes. I have more problems now than if I were in prison. So just put me in prison, then.”

The Judge then had the prosecution initiate contempt proceedings against K12, against its own witness. The Judge made no attempt whatsoever to ascertain what K12’s situation was. What did K12 mean by “psychological processing,” or by “I can not testify on anyone’s behalf”?

K12 obviously wasn’t at the tribunal willingly. Was the prosecutor torturing him? Was the prosecutor trying to blackmail him? Had he been kidnapped? Was he a fugitive; is that what he meant by, “If they think I'm guilty of something, then they can put me into prison.”?

We don’t know the answers to these questions because the Judge just wanted to keep K12 quiet. The contempt hearings against K12 are conducted in secret, where God only knows what they’re doing to him.

Slobodan Milosevic has attempted to raise the issue of K12’s rights as a witness numerous times, pointing out that it is against international law for a prosecutor to extort testimony from a witness, and that the UN has adopted declarations against torture.

Slobodan Milosevic is always met with the same response from the Judge. Most recently on the Judge said, “This is irrelevant to you. Absolutely nothing to do with you. The contempt proceedings -- the contempt proceedings are nothing to do with you and are between the Court and the witness.” Milosevic tried to protest and so the Judge just turned off his microphone and refused to hear him.

The Judge is wrong. It is relevant to Milosevic if the prosecutor is extorting testimony from witnesses brought against him.

Slobodan Milosevic is constantly being denied court documents that under the tribunal’s own rules he has every right to access. When documents are given to him they are frequently given in English, and not in his native tongue. Even witness statements that were given in Serbian originally are sometimes translated into English before Milosevic is given access to them.  The order of witnesses is constantly changed so that he is denied adequate time to prepare his cross examination. Milosevic’s only access to legal council is via an unreliable public telephone that is monitored by the tribunal’s staff.

This is a show trial not seen in Europe since the days of Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin. Slobodan Milosevic is completely innocent of the charges leveled against him. The staggering lack and pathetic quality of the evidence being brought forth, and the corrupt tactics used by the prosecution are the proof of his innocence.

A mistrial ought to be declared, and President Milosevic should be released and compensated by the UN Security Council for the time of his illegal imprisonment. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia is dreadfully corrupt and therefore isn’t fit to judge anybody.  It is in fact, Milosevic’s accusers who belong on trial.