GEN. DELIC EXPOSES ANOTHER PROSECUTION WITNESS AS A LIAR
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - July 6, 2005

Written by: Andy Wilcoxson

The testimony of Gen. Bozidar Delic, former commander of the 549th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army (VJ), continued at the trial of Slobodan Milosevic on Wednesday.

Delic continued to destroy the prosecution case. Prosecution witness Xhevahire Syla testified on July 17, 2002 that Yugoslav Airforce jets bombed a convoy of Albanian refugees killing nearly 80 civilians in an attack on April 14, 1999 near Djakovica.

Gen. Delic exposed Ms. Syla as a total fraud. First he pointed out that NATO spokesman Jamie Shea admitted that NATO bombed the convoy (See: http://www.usis.it/file9904/alia/99041503.htm). Second he pointed out that the NATO bombing kept the Yugoslav Airforce completely grounded. Third he offered to provide the court with the intercepted radio communications where NATO command ordered the pilot to bomb the refugee convoy.

The fact that the prosecution called a witness to blame the Serbs for what NATO had already admitted doing just goes to show the character of the prosecution case, and the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses.

Gen. Delic also gave evidence regarding the proper conduct of the Yugoslav Army. He went through the orders that the Yugoslav Army was given to protect the civilian population. He showed the court reports written by OSCE-KVM monitors, which spoke of the professional conduct of the Yugoslav forces.

The witness testified that refugees left Kosovo for various reasons – none of which were a Serbian campaign of ethnic cleansing. He said that the refugees left due to NATO’s bombing, combat between the Army and the KLA, and a pre-arranged plan to leave Kosovo in order to justify the NATO bombing. He also said that refugees fled in order to avoid being drafted into the KLA.

To prove his claims Gen. Delic played a series of videotapes. The tapes showed Albanian refugees at the Vrbica border explaining that they were leaving Kosovo because of the bombing.

The videotapes showed the result of the NATO bombing, including the barbaric attack on the Prizeren Hospital, attacks on refugee convoys, and the bombing of civilian homes. Particularly disturbing was the video showing the NATO bombing of Kosovo-Roma houses in Prizren.

The tapes demonstrated the humanity of the Yugoslav Army. The Army medical corps could be seen giving medical attention to Albanian and Roma civilians who had been injured by the NATO attacks.

The tapes demonstrate that civilians had good reason to flee from NATO’s bombs. NATO was clearly targeting civilians. The tapes go to show that the cause of the mass exodus of Kosovo refugees was the NATO bombing.

The tapes also demonstrated how the KLA abused civilians. Delic played videotaped interviews with civilians who had been used as human shields by the KLA. The refugees claimed that the KLA had forced them to go without food and water for days.

Gen. Delic spent the latter part of today’s hearing going over the orders and documents of the military judiciary. His testimony was aimed at showing that steps were taken to prevent and punish criminal conduct within the ranks of the army.

Gen. Delic’s testimony will enter its eighth day when the trial resumes on Thursday.

# # #