RALLY AT THE HAGUE PROTESTS NATO-LED TRIAL OF YUGOSLAV LEADERS.

RALLY AT THE HAGUE PROTESTS NATO-LED TRIAL OF YUGOSLAV LEADERS

images: http://www.sloboda.org.yu/engleski/index-demonstr.html

In the first major protest since the U.S.-backed trial of former Yugoslav President opened in The Hague two years ago, on June 28, 2003, hundreds marched outside the prison once used as a Nazi detention center and reraised the issues of the 1999 war.

The Hague, Netherlands

An international crowd of about 200 people carried out the first major protest in The Hague, Netherlands on June 28 against the International Criminal Tribunal on Yugoslavia, a court controlled by the U.S. and NATO.

The date marked the anniversary of a battle for the defense of Serbia from a Turkish assault in 1389 and also the second anniversary of the illegal seizure of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic from Belgrade to stand "trial" before a NATO-financed court.

The demonstration was initiated by the Sloboda organization in Belgrade and various national chapters of the International Committee for the Defense of Slobodan Milosevic, with the initial planning meeting held in Hannover, Germany. It gained the support of organizations representing the Yugoslav diaspora in Europe.

Protesters from Germany, Holland, Bulgaria, Belgium, France, Italy, Serbia, Canada and the U.S. met in front of the tribunal to denounce the illegal kidnapping and imprisonment of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. He has been defending himself, almost single-handedly, against war crimes charges, putting NATO in the dock for its 78-day bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.

In three languages--English, German and Serbian--speakers denounced the imperialist war against Yugoslavia. Their signs called the tribunal a "kangaroo court." They then marched to the crenellated medieval-style prison where Milosevic has been held for two years. He has been denied adequate medical care and family visits, and is incarcerated in a prison that was last used by the Nazi Gestapo as a detention center. Other leaders of the former Yugoslavia are held there, too.

Among the speakers were Misa Gavrilovic of London, Prof. Velko Valkanov of Sofia, Wil van der Klift of The Hague, Dr. Sima Mraovic of Paris, Klaus Hartmann of Offenbach, Germany, Dr. Ljiljana Verner of Hannover, Nico Varkevisser of Amsterdam, Vladimir Krsljanin of Belgrade, Michel Collon of Brussels, Gordana Milovic-Kovacevic of Berlin, Prof. Aldo Bernardini of Rome. Heather Cottin of New York, Christopher Black of Toronto, former Admiral Elmar Schmaehling of Berlin, Klaus von Raussendorf of Bonn.

Speakers asserted that Yugoslavia was the "first Iraq." During the war on Yugo slavia, many people around the world were taken in by media lies and government demonization campaigns agaisnt the Serbs and Milosevic.

They praised the International Action Center, which stood almost alone in the U.S. against the U.S./NATO "humanitarian bombing." Heather Cottin, representing the IAC and its founder, Ramsey Clark, brought their solidarity with the struggle for the freedom of President Milosevic. She characterized the colonization of Bos nia and Kosovo, and the subsequent privatization of the Balkans and the former Yugoslavia, as a first step toward the U.S. war on Iraq. The IAC speaker stressed that solidarity was the only way toward the liberation of those imprisoned by imperialism.

Demonstrators learned later that their chants, songs and speeches had been heard inside the prison walls.

To see a full coverage of the June 28th demonstration at The Hague, please go to http://www.sloboda.org.yu/engleski/index-demonstr.html

Speech by Heather Cottin, International Action Center

SPEECHES AT THE HAGUE DEMOS

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