VOJISLAV SESELJ AND GEN. DELIC RE-EXAMINED
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - September 20, 2005

Written by: Andy Wilcoxson

Vojislav Seselj concluded his testimony at the trial of Slobodan Milosevic on Tuesday. Mr. Nice briefly re-opened the cross-examination at the beginning of the hearing. He didn’t score any points, but he did give Seselj a chance to point out another flaw in videotape that the prosecution played last Thursday.

Last Thursday Mr. Nice played videotape, filmed by prosecution witness Van Linden, of an alleged English-speaking “Serbian Chetnik” in Vukovar during the war. Today Dr. Seselj noted that this so-called “Chetnik” was wearing his wedding ring on his left hand, like a Croatian Catholic, and unlike Orthodox Serbs who only wear wedding rings on their right hand.

On Thursday Seselj had also spotted a Croatian flag in the background of the video. This is another example of the fabricated evidence presented by the prosecution’s witnesses.

Following Mr. Nice’s brief questioning, Milosevic picked-up the re-examination where he had left off last week.

Dr. Seselj scoffed at the prosecution’s notion that he was engaged in a so-called “Joint Criminal Enterprise” together with Milosevic. He said that their relationship was so hostile at the time that any type of collaboration was out of the question.

Milosevic pointed out how flawed the “Joint Criminal Enterprise” charge is. He noted that the indictment accuses him of conspiring with “persons known and unknown.” How, Milosevic asked, can he defend himself from the accusation that he entered into a conspiracy with “persons unknown”?

During the cross-examination Mr. Nice accused Dr. Seselj of inciting war and hatred against Croats and Bosnian-Muslims.

In re-examination Seselj explained that it was Tudjman’s actions and his statements that caused unrest among the Krajina Serbs, not anything that he or the Belgrade media did.

Dr. Seselj said that the OTP is covering-up a report that it commissioned earlier this year that proves that over 100,000 Serbs had been expelled by the Tudjman regime as far back as 1991. Mr. Nice was forced to admit the existence of the report and said that it had been completed last May.

To prove that Serbs were reacting to hostile provocations, not to Seselj’s speeches or “Belgrade propaganda”, Milosevic presented a copy of the October 1991 issue of the Bosnian Muslim magazine “VOX” published in Sarajevo.

The magazine cover said “The Handzar Division is Ready … The 4th Reich is Coming Welcome” The picture on the cover was a drawing of a Muslim dressed in a Nazi SS uniform with his boot on the severed head of Radovan Karadzic.

Seselj noted that the members of the Bosnian-Muslims’ so-called “Green Berets” often referred to themselves as the Handzar Division in reference to the Nazi SS Divison of the Second World War.

Mr. Nice objected to the presentation of this pre-war Muslim propaganda on the grounds that it was liable to “be inflammatory when reported locally.” Mr. Nice’s remark clearly demonstrates a political concern, and shows that tribunal itself is political in nature.

The judges, of course, sided with Mr. Nice and barred Milosevic from presenting evidence that the hostile pro-Nazi propaganda published by the Croats and the Bosnian-Muslims was a cause of Serbian fear and agitation – not Seselj’s speeches or the Belgrade media.

Judge Robinson rebuked Milosevic for his lengthy re-examinations and said that if this were a jury trial the “long re-examination would create an impression that the prosecutor has done a good job and cast serious doubts on the credibility of the witness and his testimony.”

Unfortunately for Milosevic, this isn’t a jury trial. If it were a jury trial he would be acquitted and set free. Nearly everybody who watches this trial for himself arrives at the conclusion that Milosevic is innocent. The trial is broadcast live everyday on Serbian TV and more than 75% of Serbia believes he’s innocent. He’s more popular now than he was before the trial started.

This website posts links to the live video feeds, and re-publishes the court transcripts, and the result is the same here as it is in Serbia. The public discussion section of this website is overwhelmingly pro-Milosevic. A jury would acquit Milosevic in a heartbeat.

Milosevic briefly questioned Seselj about Srebrenica. He showed the witness documents that had been tendered by Mr. Nice. The documents related to VJ activity along the Republika Srpska border in July 1995 and showed that the VJ had no idea what was happening in Srebrenica. All they knew was that the Muslims across the border were setting up observation posts to spy on them.

He showed the tribunal internal Yugoslav Government communications that expressed a belief that the taking of Srebrenica and Zepa by the Bosnian Serbs Army was wrongheaded and caused political damage ahead of the peace negotiations.

The cross-examination was unceremoniously cut off at this point. The judges wrongfully accused Milosevic of abusing the process, and sent Seselj away before the re-examination was over.

After Seselj’s re-examination was cut off, Milosevic continued his re-examination of Gen. Bozidar Delic. The ICTY summer recess interrupted Delic’s re-examination.

Delic continued to testify regarding Paddy Ashdown’s testimony. Ashdown claims to have witnessed Serbian troops committing atrocities in Kosovo villages. It emerged today that some of the villages that Ashdown named were not even in Kosovo, but in Albania.

To help Delic, Milosevic obtained 3-D computer maps of Kosovo from the Belgrade Military Technical Institute. These maps showed Ashdown’s view from the locations he says he was at, and they prove that he could not see the areas he says he saw from the places where he says he was at.

Milosevic also presented a newspaper article from the British media identifying Ashdown as an MI6 agent. This information really sparked the ire of the judges and they threatened to terminate the re-examination of Delic too if Milosevic continued down that line.

Milosevic moved away from the Ashdown issue, and focused the remainder of the day focusing on the collaboration between the KLA and NATO.

Gen. Delic testified that there was a KLA unit called the “Atlantic Brigade” which was made-up of American citizens. These terrorists wore a KLA patch on one sleeve and an American flag on the other.

Gen. Delic explained that his unit fought against this unit at Mt. Pastrik. He also made reference to a passage from Wesley Clark’s book “Waging Modern War.” In his book Clark publishes a NATO communiqué that spoke of the urgency of helping the KLA to maintain its position on the top of that mountain.

The fact that American citizens fought in the KLA with the U.S. flag sewn on their sleeve, and the fact that NATO helped the KLA maintain its military positions speaks to a clear collaboration between the KLA and NATO. Gen. Delic added that these KLA terrorists possessed advanced American radar technology, which they could only have received with the approval of the U.S. Government.

Gen. Delic’s re-examination will continue when the trial resumes tomorrow.

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