THE HAGUE, Oct 2 (Hina) - Continuing the cross-examination of Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, who is testifying against him before the Hague-based war crimes tribunal, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Wednesday
repeatedly tried to discredit Mesic as a witness.
THE HAGUE, Oct 2 (Hina) - Continuing the cross-examination of
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, who is testifying against him
before the Hague-based war crimes tribunal, former Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic on Wednesday repeatedly tried to
discredit Mesic as a witness. #L#
Mesic countered Milosevic's attempts to discredit him with
accusations, which on several occasions prompted the president of
the trial chamber, judge Richard May, to warn the defendant that he
was not cross-examining the witness but quarrelling with him and
that attacks on others did not constitute defence.
Attacks on individuals do not constitute defence and are
irrelevant, May said, commenting on a number of Milosevic's
questions which related to the Muslim-Croat conflict in Bosnia, the
replacement of a former leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Stjepan Kljujic, an alleged statement by Mesic
accusing a former Capljina mayor of ethnic cleansing, and the
destruction of Mostar's Old Bridge.
Stating that he saw no reason why those questions were relevant for
the indictment, May warned Milosevic that his time for the cross-
examination was limited.
The former Yugoslav president tried to accuse Mesic of breaking up
Yugoslavia, to which Mesic responded by describing the
circumstances in the former federal leadership and stating that
unlike the defendant, who exerted decisive influence on the
Yugoslav army, the only people whom he could influence at the time
were his "two secretaries, advisor and chief-of-staff, who were
also Serbs".
Speaking about the establishment of the border of Great Serbia and
attempts by Milosevic and the army leaders to break up Yugoslavia,
Mesic referred to books by a former state presidency member,
Borisav Jovic, and a former federal defence minister, Veljko
Kadijevic, which mentioned the border running along the
Virovitica-Karlovac-Karlobag route.
Accusing the Serbian leadership and Milosevic of the crimes the
Yugoslav army committed in Vukovar, Mesic stated that they approved
the sending of paramilitary forces which massacred the wounded in
Vukovar and that imprisoned Croats had ended up in camps in Serbia.
Milosevic replied, "It is not true that the Serbian policy
determined the situation in Vukovar". When asked by judge May if he
questioned the authenticity of "300 people being taken away and
killed", Milosevic said he had "no facts about that at the moment"
and "will try to obtain them", claiming that the Serbian
authorities had nothing to do with the massacre or the ethnic
cleansing campaign in Vukovar.
In an attempt to contest Mesic's claims, Milosevic stated that
according to a list drawn up by a Belgrade committee in charge of
collecting data on committed crimes, Serbs had been imprisoned in
221 camps in Croatia. However, he did not provide more details as to
the character of the committee.
Mesic said that even though he had been critical about the
functioning of the rule of law in Croatia until 2000, "there had
been no camps in Croatia, although abuse and crimes did take place".
He added that people responsible for crimes in Vukovar were
promoted and today lived in Belgrade. He reiterated that he
advocated the investigation and punishment of every crime as well
as the individualisation of guilt.
Milosevic's questions also related to the character of the HDZ as a
party, and Mesic explained in detail how and when he parted way with
the HDZ, stating that he had left it because he did not agree with
former Croatian President Franjo Tudjman about three crucial
issues: the relationship to Bosnia-Herzegovina, privatisation,
and the non-functioning of the rule of law.
Asked whether Tudjman considered that Bosnia-Herzegovina should be
an integral part of Croatia, Mesic said he had talked with Tudjman
about that and Tudjman had believed that Bosnia-Herzegovina should
have been granted autonomy within Croatia, but that he had never
initiated any changes to the border. Mesic reiterated that after
the Karadjordjevo meeting Tudjman had told him that Milosevic had
offered him to take Cazin, Kladusa and Bihac - so-called Turkish
Croatia.
Milosevic's questions which were aimed at proving that Croatian
Serbs had been threatened also related to connections between the
late Croatian president and Ustasha emigrants and his relying on
radicals. "This happened later", Mesic said, adding that it
prompted him to leave the party and stating that Milosevic and his
associates were responsible for instigating the Croatian Serb
rebellion.
(hina) rml