Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Baldur Fjvlnisson who wrote (276812)	7/17/2002 11:50:41 AM
From: Emile Vidrine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

The New World of the Milosevic Trial - Implications for the IDF Ha'aretz \| July 16, 2002 \| Ze'ev Schiff THE HAGUE - Reality provides a great number of ironic situations, and I came across one of them at the International Criminal Court [ICC] in The Hague in Holland. On the witness stand sat a German general, testifying against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, who is accused of war crimes. A German general versus a Serbian leader, at a trial focusing on genocide. Times have changed and roles have been swapped. During World War II, it was in Yugoslavia that the German army carried out indiscriminate executions, without showing any mercy for the captured partisans. The Germans, like the Russians, are very familiar with executions by a shot in the back of the neck. Now the Serbs are accused of the same crime, and the murder victims are Albanians in Kosovo. The German general tells how one distinguishes between someone who has been executed and someone killed in battle. Everything is professional. When the Germans were carrying out their crimes in Yugoslavia, the general, Klaus Naumann, was a child. Over the years, he made his way up through the ranks, was appointed chief of staff, and filled a role in NATO. Milosevic shows no interest in the general's testimony. Dressed in a dark suit with a red tie, he spends a lot of time drawing on the paper in front of him. Although he doesn't recognize the right of the court to try him, he nevertheless shows his respect for the forum by his manner of dress. Milosevic doesn't look like someone who has relinquished his self-recognition as a leader. Since being transferred to the prison in The Hague last April, he has aged. His hair has turned completely white. He is very thin, and his body seems to have shrunk. Near him sits a guard. On the way out to the lunch break, another two guards joined the guard. Only then did Milosevic come to life, conducting a lively conversation with one of the prosecutors. He threw a glance at the small number of spectators in the courtroom, and when he met the looks of the curious, he waved. Judging by the number of people in the courtroom, it would seem that the trial is not arousing much interest. The row reserved for journalists is empty. About 30 people were present, most of whom looked like Dutch students or retirees. There is no line at the entrance to the building where the trials for the Yugoslavian war crimes are being held. A woman who was standing in front of me did not enter the Milosevic courtroom. At the same time, the trials of additional accused from Yugoslavia were taking place in two other courtrooms. In all, about 100 people will stand trial.