ASHDOWN CAUGHT ON TAPE: BOSNIA'S DICTATOR SEEN INSPECTING KLA WEAPONS AND PROMISING ASSISTANCE TO TERRORISTS
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - September 29, 2005

Written by: Andy Wilcoxson

Slobodan Milosevic continued to destroy Paddy Ashdown's credibility during his trial at the Hague Tribunal on Thursday where he re-examined Gen. Bozidar Delic.

Milosevic presented an explosive videotape of Ashdown to the tribunal. The videotape opens with a uniformed KLA terrorist presenting his rifle to Ashdown for inspection. After inspecting the firearm, Ashdown is taken to view an arms cache where he can be seen inspecting several more weapons. The audio on the tape is rather poor, but Ashdown can be heard promising to inform Prime Minister Blair of the situation and saying that he will "do his best" to procure assistance.

Interestingly, when Ashdown testified on March 15, 2002, he spoke about a visit he made to the village of Studencani where he says he inspected a number of weapons. Ashdown claimed that "villagers" had procured the weapons so that they could stave off reprisals by having something to give to the Serbian Police in the event that they came around asking for the surrender of weapons.

The fact that Ashdown's so-called "villagers" were, in fact, members of the KLA proves that he was lying during that part of his testimony. Obviously, the KLA wasn't procuring weapons because they wanted to give them away as some sort of present to the Serbian police. The KLA wanted to procure weapons in order to kill the Serbian Police.

Milosevic proceeded to question Gen. Delic about Ashdown's latest recollection of where he was at when he said he saw Serbian troops shelling several Kosovo villages. When Ashdown testified on March 14, 2002 he said that he was in Albania looking into Kosovo. Now Ashdown says that he was in Kosovo itself.

Gen. Delic said that Ashdown cold not have been in Kosovo at the location he now gives. If Ashdown had been there, especially for the four hours he claims, then he would have been arrested. Delic explained that the border between Albania and Kosovo was sealed to prevent arms trafficking and that the frequent VJ patrols which were in that area at the time Ashdown gives would have arrested him.

Furthermore, Delic testifies that Ashdown couldn't have seen all of the places he claims to have seen, even from the new location he's now giving. To prove his point Delic offered to accompany ICTY investigators to the spot and show them.

During the re-examination Milosevic asked Delic several questions about the 30th Personnel Center of the VJ. Delic explained that this personnel center paid salaries, pensions, and welfare benefits to former JNA soldiers who were deployed in Republika Srpska as members of the VRS. Delic said that the personnel center was only intended to assist soldiers and their families. He said it did not issue orders.

Delic also answered several questions about the SCG Bureau for Cooperation with the ICTY. He spelled out the Bureau's objectives, which were: to provide legal assistance to those dealing with the tribunal and to provide facts and documents relevant to ICTY investigations.

During the cross-examination, Mr. Nice read out a Bureau document which he claimed said that the Bureau opposed "voluntary" cooperation with the ICTY. It turns out that Mr. Nice misspoke (or lied); the document really said that the Bureau opposed "arbitrary", or forced, cooperation with the ICTY.

Following the final conclusion of Gen. Delic's testimony, Bogoljub Janicevic resumed his examination-in-chief. Janicevic is the former chief of the Urosevac SUP.

Janicevic presented several pages of documents showing that Serbian police officers were arrested and prosecuted whenever they committed crimes. These documents prove that the Serbian Government did not turn a blind eye to police misconduct in Kosovo. This is not the first time such documents have been exhibited, Col. Paponjak and Gen. Stevanovic presented similar documents when they testified.

The witness also presented the court with detailed statistics on crimes committed in the area of the Urosevac SUP's responsibility. These documents showed that the KLA was very active and required an urgent police response.

From 1998 until mid-1999, in the Urosevac area alone, the KLA purpetrated 118 terrorist attacks killing 125 people (75 civilians, 18 policemen, and 32 VJ soldiers; of the civilians killed 18 were Albanans, and 57 were non-Albanians). The KLA kidnapped 137 people: they released 50, 5 were found dead, and the fate of the rest is unknown.

These statistics show that the KLA terrorized Albanians and non-Albanians alike. The Serbian Government would have been remiss in its duties had it not sought to eliminate the KLA.

Janicevic will continue his testimony on Friday.

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