VOJISLAV SESELJ - DAY 10: THE PERFIDIOUS PROSECUTOR
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - September 7, 2005

Written by: Andy Wilcoxson

Mr. Nice resumed his cross-examination of Vojislav Seselj at the trial of Slobodan Milosevic on Wednesday.

The prosecutor got things started by accusing Seselj of being a "dangerous" and "wicked" person. The witness responded in kind by accusing the prosecutor of being a "perfidious liar."

The prosecutor reacted to Seselj's accusation like a child in the schoolyard. Mr. Nice complained to the judges that he could not be expected to "endure such abuse."

The judges agreed with the prosecutor and scolded Mr. Seselj. This is a clear double standard from when the prosecution was calling its witnesses. The judges never would have tolerated Milosevic calling a prosecution witness "wicked," nor would they have intervened to protect him if a prosecution witness called him a "perfidious liar."

Although none of this stopped Seselj from speaking ill of the prosecutor. On one occasion, when Mr. Nice complained that the witness was speaking too loudly snidely remarking that he must be hard of hearing; Seselj retorted that Mr. Nice talked like a girl and should get hormone therapy so that he would sound more like a man.

Mr. Nice played several clips from the BBC film "The Death of Yugoslavia." Judge Bonamy expressed surprise at the fact that the transcript that the judges were given was completely different from the subtitles on the movie.

Mr. Nice was forced to explain that the subtitles on the movie are frequently inaccurate, so the tribunal's interpreters have had to go through and re-interpret all of the Serbian parts of the movie, which is why their transcript is different from the BBC's false subtitles.

Problems with "The Death of Yugoslavia" subtitles first came to light during the testimony of Mitar Balevic. (See: http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg020904.htm )

The fact that the subtitles are inaccurate throughout the film renders "The Death of Yugoslavia" totally worthless as a documentary. The BBC exploits the fact that its audience does not speak Serbian in order to falsely attribute words to Serbian officials, and in that way pursue its own political agenda. "The Death of Yugoslavia" is propaganda pure and simple.

Another disturbing fact about this film is the fact that people were essentially bribed to give interviews to the BBC. Seselj says that they gave him $500, and he says he didn't even tell them the truth.

According to Seselj, he used his interview with the BBC to sabotage Milosevic's relations with the West in the hope that he could scuttle the forthcoming Dayton agreement, which the Serbian Radical Party opposed.

During the interview Seselj said that Milosevic was arming the Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia, and sending troops to assist them. Seselj said that by telling this lie he hoped to create mistrust between Milosevic and the West, and in that way bring about the collapse of the forthcoming Dayton agreement.

Furthermore, Seselj believed that the Serbian State Security Service (DB) was waging a campaign to undermine the Serbian Radical Party. He claimed that he had been arrested as part of that campaign and that he wanted to get revenge on Milosevic and the DB any way he could. Seselj explained that at that time he said every malicious thing he could think of to attack Milosevic, and bring publicity to himself.

Besides, Seselj noted, there would have been nothing criminal about it if Milosevic really had sent weapons and troops to help the Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia. Germany was arming the Croats. The Islamic countries, especially Iran, were arming the Muslims. What would have been wrong with Serbia helping the Serbs?

Under oath today, Seselj stated that neither Milosevic nor the SPS took any action to gather volunteers for the wars in Bosnia and Croatia. Nor did Milosevic ever command any troops in Bosnia or Croatia.

Mr. Nice asked Seselj about statements that he made threatening Croatian fascists and Islamic fundamentalists during the wars in Bosnia and Croatia. Seselj repeated that the threats were exclusively directed against fascists and fundamentalists, not towards regular Croatian and Muslim civilians.

Mr. Nice adopted an interesting strategy today, he said that he wanted to establish Milosevic's responsibility for Seselj's statements. He asked Seselj if Milosevic ever took any action to "reign him in". Seselj explained that he wasn't Milosevic's horse and that Milosevic had no way to stop him from speaking, because the Serbian constitution gave people freedom of speech.

During the prosecution case, the prosecution played a videotape of Milosevic attending a special ceremony of the Serbian Anti-terrorist police (JSO) at their base in Kula. At this ceremony Frenki Simatovic can be seen talking about the glorious history of the "Red Berets" dating back to their establishment in 1991.

The prosecution first introduced this video into evidence during the testimony of Dragan Vasiljkovic, a prosecution witness. Vasiljkovic explained, all the way back on February 21, 2003, that Simatovic was talking about the Knindza unit from the Krajina being established in 1991 - not the JSO.

Vasiljkovic, who was the Knindza commander during the war, said that the JSO was established after the wars as an elite squadron made up of the best fighters from the wars, many of whom were former members of his Knindza unit. He said that Simatovic gave the members of the JSO red berets, similar to those worn by the Knindza, in order to carry on the military tradition of the Knindza.

Vasiljkovic testified unequivocally that there was no institutional continuity between the Knindza and the JSO, even though both of them were nicknamed the "Red Berets" because they both wore red berets.

During his evidence in chief Seselj said that the JSO was established in 1996. In an attempt to catch the witness out, Mr. Nice played the videotape of Simatovic talking about 1991 again. When Seselj repeated his answer that the JSO was established in 1996 Mr. Nice accused him of being a liar.

This is a prime example of the malicious conduct of the prosecution throughout this so-called "trial". Mr. Nice knows, from the testimony of his own prosecution witness that Simatovic was not talking about the JSO being established in 1991. But this did not stop him from accusing Seselj of being a liar when he gave testimony that fit perfectly with what Vasiljkovic, his own witness, already said.

Mr. Nice knows full well that he is lying when he tries to say that the JSO existed prior to 1996 and that it was active in Bosnia and Croatia. Not only is Mr. Nice trying to say that the unit existed when and where it didn't - he is trying to attribute crimes to it. This is the type of sheer nonsense that the prosecution has been engaging in since the trial began more than three years ago.

The JSO did not exist until after the wars ended, therefore it could not have taken part in the wars, and it certainly could not have committed any crimes if it wasn't there. This is an undeniable fact which can be confirmed by testimony from prosecution and defense witnesses.

Dr. Seselj will continue his testimony when the trial resumes next Wednesday.

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