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Milosevic Says ICTY 'Fatally Flawed'
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is fatally flawed, with "disastrous consequences for the human quest for peace, the rule of law, democracy, truth and justice", Slobodan Milosevic said in a statement issued Thursday in The Hague.
The former Yugoslav president issued the 36-page written document against the Hague court, saying it is illegitimate and is administering victors' justice.
"The (court) is not just another arrow in the arsenal of the United States with which it persecutes and demonizes enemies and corrupts international law," the statement said. "It is a poisonous arrow destructive of the foundations of peace among independent nations of equal rights and dignity."
Earlier on Thursday, the ICTY refused Milosevic's request to present the statement during a pretrial hearing. But Milosevic attacked the court at the so-called "status conference" for a regular review of progress on his case. The court's presiding judge Richard May terminated the hearing when Milosevic tried to voice his "political arguments".
Since he was sent from Serbia two months ago to face charges for crimes against humanity in The Hague, Milosevic has insisted the court is a political tool of Western alliance.
He filed a motion early this month challenging its legitimacy and a Dutch district court will rule on a similar challenge by local lawyers on Friday.
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