"NATO and the Tribunal are all one"

"NATO and the Tribunal are all one" - Jamie Shea
The Serbian Times - October 2005 Issue

Interview with Mr. Andy Wilcoxson, Trial Reporter & Researcher for 'Slobodan Milosevic Freedom Center The Hague'

THE SERBIAN TIMES: Mr. Wilcoxson, first of all, what is your opinion on the final result of president Milosevic's trial. Is there even a remote chance that he will be acquitted?

ANDY WILCOXSON: There is absolutely no chance that the ICTY will acquit Milosevic. This is a political show trial. Politics, not evidence, dictate the verdict. If you'll remember, the ICTY indicted Milosevic to provide political justification for the NATO aggression. They indicted him while the bombs were still falling even though they hadn't carried out a single investigation in Kosovo.

The political nature of the tribunal is obvious. Richard Holbrooke once boasted to the BBC that he used the ICTY as his "tool." He said, "I realized that the War Crimes Tribunal was a very valuable tool. We used it to keep the two most wanted war criminals in Europe out of the Dayton process and we used it to justify everything that followed."

All you have to do is listen to the NATO officials and the situation becomes clear. Jamie Shea gave a press conference during the NATO aggression where he explained that "NATO countries are those that have provided the finance to set up the Tribunal, we are amongst the majority financiers ... let me assure [you] that we and the Tribunal are all one."

So there you have it -- straight from the horse's mouth -- the ICTY is a political tool bought and paid for by NATO. There's no way that they'll let Milosevic go free.

THE SERBIAN TIMES: Has the Tribunal been surprised by the character of Slobodan Milosevic? He has been portrayed in western media almost like a psychopath. Is this the man the western media expected in court? Are they surprised by the moral and professional characters of Slobodan Milosevic and high ranking members of his cabinet that have been testifying at the Trial?

ANDY WILCOXSON: I think the tribunal did miscalculate. Milosevic is the first ICTY defendant to represent himself. I think NATO thought that if the tribunal guaranteed him a fair trial they could con him into playing by their rules. Milosevic is a smart guy, and he learned from his mistakes. After being double-crossed at Dayton and Kumanovo, he realized that he can't trust the West. He realized that this was a political show trial from the very beginning. Therefore, he is responding in kind. He is integrating political strategy into his legal defense and by presenting his case in this way he is beating NATO at its own game.

THE SERBIAN TIMES: Mr. Milosevic is being accused of most monstrous crimes. So far, has the prosecution presented any serious evidence (other than the "he said she said" testimonies from villagers) to prove that Slobodan Milosevic committed these crimes?

ANDY WILCOXSON: The prosecution has not proven that Milosevic committed a single crime. There is no evidence that he participated in the commission of a crime, or that he ordered somebody else to perpetrate a crime. All of the orders that Milosevic and other senior Serbian officials gave called for the utmost respect to be paid to international humanitarian law, and Milosevic has been exhibiting those orders throughout his trial.

On top of that, he has proven that the Serbian government prosecuted war criminals. He has presented thousands of pages of documents to the tribunal, and called several witnesses; proving that hundreds of Serbian soldiers and policemen were prosecuted for crimes they committed during the wars. Serbia never turned a blind-eye to criminal conduct, especially not in the ranks of the army or the police.

THE SERBIAN TIMES: Is the fact that Mr. Milosevic didn't give up in The Hague the biggest Serbian victory since the War in former Yugoslavia ended? At least victory over the western media?

ANDY WILCOXSON: He has certainly scored a victory over the Western media. He has embarrassed them into silence. They can't report on his trial because he keeps exposing all of the lies that they told in their reporting about the Balkans.

THE SERBIAN TIMES: Are the judges even allowed to rule in favor of Slobodan Milosevic at the end of the trial, or was this affair over the day it began?

ANDY WILCOXSON: I think the judges are compromised. There is a lot of espionage going on at the tribunal. Several of the ICTY's interns work for foreign embassies. I would imagine that they have information that they can use to blackmail the judges into handing down any ruling they want.

THE SERBIAN TIMES: Mr. Nice, the prosecutor, has a really difficult task in front of him. How is he doing in the courtroom? From reading your reports, our readers are getting the idea that Mr. Nice was not very prepared for the journey he got himself into.

ANDY WILCOXSON: Mr. Nice is doing as good a job as anybody in his position could be expected to do. He's trying to prosecute an innocent man, and he doesn't have any evidence. I don't think anybody could undertake such a task and come out of it looking good.

THE SERBIAN TIMES: Are you in contact with president Milosevic?

ANDY WILCOXSON: I am not in any kind of regular contact with Milosevic, but my associate Nico Varkevisser is in frequent contact with him. He speaks to him on the phone and visits him in prison on a fairly regular basis.

THE SERBIAN TIMES: Speaking in the name of majority of our readers and Serbs in general, one cannot read your reports from the courtroom and not think about the need to turn these reports into historical documents. Mr. Wilcoxson will you publish a book at the end of the trial of former Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic? Is this something that you have been considering?

ANDY WILCOXSON: I have certainly considered it, and I've decided that I will publish a book. I want to publish a book and make a documentary film.

THE SERBIAN TIMES: How long has your Internet web site www.slobodan-milosevic.org been on the Internet, and how are you providing funds for your organization "Slobodan Milosevic Freedom Center The Hague". Who is behind this organization?

ANDY WILCOXSON: The website went online on June 28, 2002. The Slobodan Milosevic Freedom Center was founded at the request of Slobodan Milosevic. He asked Nico Varkevisser to establish an organization in Holland, so that's what we did. Nobody provides any regular funds for our work. Occasionally we get some small monetary donations, but nothing very big. None of us makes our living doing this. I work a full-time job as a television broadcast engineer to support myself.

Source: The Serbian Times - October 2005; Volume 4, Number 38; Pg. 12