Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Milosevic denies 'Greater Serbia' quest

|
|
 
  
Published: Sept. 1, 2004 at 7:47 AM

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic concluded his opening defense statement Wednesday at his war crimes trial by calling the process a farce.

"Thanks to the nature and contents of this false indictment, (the trial) has turned into a simple and pure farce," Milosevic told the three-judge panel at The Hague.

Milosevic faces 66 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Balkans in the 1990s, but insists on representing himself.

He spent four hours in opening statements Tuesday, and was granted a further 90 minutes Wednesday, during which time he spoke of a conspiracy by the United States and Europe to break up the former Yugoslavia.

Regarding the fighting in Croatia in the early 1990s, he said Serbs were simply defending themselves and the Croatian authorities caused the war.

Although he insisted throughout the 1990s Belgrade had no role in the fighting in Bosnia, he made a rare acknowledgement of involvement.

"We did assist the Serbs (in Bosnia and Croatia) -- of course we did! We would have been the greatest scum of the earth not to assist them when their life was in danger," he said.

Topics: Slobodan Milosevic
© 2004 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
Veteran found buried in Florida National Cemetery without casket -- only a cardboard box. Florida...
At the unveiling of the official portrait of President George W. Bush, Joe Biden turned to Karl...
Women who know about their husband/boyfriends' porn usage less happy than women who do not know...
Smoking hot gun-toting college student: "It's my hobby to blow stuff up." Bonus: Her last name is...
You know how I know you're gay? Maybe it was your facial width-to-height ratio? The science of 'Gaydar'...
"Geberin caught up with the teen, grabbed her by her hair as she said she loved her and then began...