Wednesday, September 01, 2004
From BBC NEWS:
The former president of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, has begun his much-delayed defence at The Hague. He began by denying the charges against him over his alleged role in the 1990s Balkans wars.
Mr Milosevic, who is representing himself, is accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the conflicts, in which tens of thousands were killed. But he said the international community had been "the main force for the destruction of Yugoslavia" in the Balkans wars and argued that the Serbs had been victims defending themselves.
Mr Milosevic also says he wants to call more than 1,600 witnesses in the 150 days allotted to his defence - including former US President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair - however correspondents say it is unlikely they will appear.
The fundamental aim in setting up courts and legal institutions is to enable and oversee the administration of justice, in providing for an independent party to assure the public that the innocent will not be wrongly accused, the guilty not escape scot-free and that respective punishments are meted out fairly. However as legal proceedings become institutionalized over the years, the judicial process in itself has, more than often not, worked against what it has set out to achieve in the past. Those who are well-versed in the ways of the litigation processes or who are rich enough to appoint lawyers to represent them can be shielded behind the mess of complicated formalities or find loopholes in certain statutes or procedural inevitabilities. Everyone is (supposedly) equal in the courts of law, thus the law protects all, even those who are making ridiculous floundering bids to delay prosecution. And what prosecution may we say, when they are already sheltered from death penalty in yet another system failure.
The former president of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, has begun his much-delayed defence at The Hague. He began by denying the charges against him over his alleged role in the 1990s Balkans wars.
Mr Milosevic, who is representing himself, is accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the conflicts, in which tens of thousands were killed. But he said the international community had been "the main force for the destruction of Yugoslavia" in the Balkans wars and argued that the Serbs had been victims defending themselves.
Mr Milosevic also says he wants to call more than 1,600 witnesses in the 150 days allotted to his defence - including former US President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair - however correspondents say it is unlikely they will appear.
The fundamental aim in setting up courts and legal institutions is to enable and oversee the administration of justice, in providing for an independent party to assure the public that the innocent will not be wrongly accused, the guilty not escape scot-free and that respective punishments are meted out fairly. However as legal proceedings become institutionalized over the years, the judicial process in itself has, more than often not, worked against what it has set out to achieve in the past. Those who are well-versed in the ways of the litigation processes or who are rich enough to appoint lawyers to represent them can be shielded behind the mess of complicated formalities or find loopholes in certain statutes or procedural inevitabilities. Everyone is (supposedly) equal in the courts of law, thus the law protects all, even those who are making ridiculous floundering bids to delay prosecution. And what prosecution may we say, when they are already sheltered from death penalty in yet another system failure.
