THE HAGUE, Jan 30 (Hina) - Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic told the Hague war crimes tribunal on Wednesday Serbia had been accused of breaking up the former federation when in truth it had fought for its preservation,
while those who had advocated "secession, separatism and terrorism" were being amnestied. Milosevic said the late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, in an address to the Croatian people in Zagreb's central square on 24 March 1992, said there would have been no war had Croatia not wanted it and that the Croatian leadership had estimated that war was the only way to achieve Croatia's independence. "In both Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina the Serbian policy focused on peace... we advocated a political solution," said Milosevic. He asserted Croatia did not wage a war because of the Croatian people's right to secession but to expel half a million Serbs who lived there as "their
THE HAGUE, Jan 30 (Hina) - Former Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic told the Hague war crimes tribunal on Wednesday Serbia
had been accused of breaking up the former federation when in truth
it had fought for its preservation, while those who had advocated
"secession, separatism and terrorism" were being amnestied.
Milosevic said the late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, in an
address to the Croatian people in Zagreb's central square on 24
March 1992, said there would have been no war had Croatia not wanted
it and that the Croatian leadership had estimated that war was the
only way to achieve Croatia's independence.
"In both Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina the Serbian policy
focused on peace... we advocated a political solution," said
Milosevic.
He asserted Croatia did not wage a war because of the Croatian
people's right to secession but to expel half a million Serbs who
lived there as "their own men in their own country."
To corroborate his claim about the innocence of the Serbian
leadership in the Croatian war, Milosevic said, "The Croatian
leadership never took us to task for those conflicts... and today we
hear that there was some kind of plan."
Chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte said Milosevic's plan of a Greater
Serbia included the expulsion of the non-Serb population from
Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
"All the time we fought for Yugoslavia, for the preservation of
Yugoslavia," said Milosevic.
British prosecutor Geoffrey Nice used Milosevic's statement to
prove that for Milosevic the events in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo
were part of the same transaction, which he said further justified
the necessity of a joint trial.
Nice said Milosevic had transferred expelled Croatian Serbs via
Serbia to Kosovo to affect the demographic balance in the
province.
(hina) ha sb