Milosevic trial politically motivated - witness
A Greek MP told Slobodan Milosevic’s war crimes court today that the charges against the former Yugoslav president were politically motivated.
Liana Kaneli, 50, is a member of the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic and an independent MP allied with Greece’s Communist Party.
She is one of the few witnesses willing to testify on Milosevic’s behalf since the UN tribunal appointed him a British defence lawyer against his will last month.
Most of those who had been scheduled to appear during the defence phase of his 32 month old trial in The Hague have cancelled in an attempt to pressure the court to reverse its decision or to derail proceedings.
Kaneli said that if Milosevic had co-operated more with Western leaders “he wouldn’t be here with the losers, he would be with the winners, and nobody would ever make a political court like this".
Presiding Judge Patrick Robinson described her comment as being “completely out of order".
Milosevic faces more than 60 counts of war crimes, including genocide, for allegedly orchestrating crimes by Serb troops in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo during the violent break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Judges appointed barrister Steven Kay after a doctor’s report said Milosevic’s blood pressure was so high he was damaging his health and in danger of a heart attack if he continued to represent himself.
Mr Kay has appealed his own appointment and judges will hear arguments on allowing Milosevic to defend himself again on Thursday.
In court today, Milosevic interrupted several times to make comments, and said once that Mr Kay did not ask Kaneli all the questions he should have – but he declined when judges offered him the chance to ask her follow-up questions himself.
“I’m not entering into the substance of the material. Until my right to defend myself is restored to me, this is a pure and simple farce,” Milosevic said.
