By Professor Mihailo Markovic
The most important Yugoslav living philosopher, professor Mihailo Markovic, member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, member of several international scientific societies and visiting professor in many foreign universities, including in USA, made the following statement on the arrest of president Milosevic:
Present Yugoslav authorities know that Slobodan Milosevic is not a war criminal and yet they arrested him and intend to deliver him to the Hague tribunal the partiality of which is quite obvious. Its prosecutor, notorious Carla Del Ponte declared in advance that for his “crimes” Milosevic will get life imprisonment. He is guilty before anything was proven, he is punished before the trial even started. In any truly legal institution this lady would be fired and the case dismissed. Unfortunately the Hague tribunal is not a legal but a political institution fully subordinated to the only-remaining word superpower.
It is common knowledge that multinational former Yugoslavia was not broken by former Yugoslav president but by separatist forces, supported from outside. All evidence points out that the four wars in former Yugoslavia were not produced by Milosevic but by paramilitary forces of secessionists.
There were indeed appalling atrocities in those wars, as in every civil war in history. But they were committed by all parties. There was no systematic Serbian policy deserving to be characterized as genocide or crime against humanity.
Besides, when similar crimes took place in some other wars (for example the war in Vietnam) only those who committed them were held responsible, not presidents of the USA and other countries.
Certainly everyone, including Milosevic is responsible if he broke the international law and the laws of his country. However, our entire civilization and any truly legal system rest on the principle that guilt must be proven and that each human being must be presumed innocent before trial begins
I am convinced that Milosevic would not have been arrested had this not been demanded by the USA in order to absolve themselves from the moral and legal responsibility for bombardment of Yugoslavia.
Mihailo Markovic,
Member of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Belgrade, April 6, 2001
