Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Milosevic Accused of "Medieval Savagery"

Aired February 12, 2002 - 09:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The war crimes trial for Slobodan Milosevic began this morning. In the opening statements, the U.N. prosecutor accused the former dictator of Yugoslavia with "medieval savagery" and "calculated cruelty," while Milosevic, who has refused to recognize the legitimacy of the court, sat quietly in the courtroom.

CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour is live in the Hague with more details this morning -- good morning, Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

And it certainly is an extraordinary and certainly historic moment. This is, of course, the most important war crimes trial since Nuremberg after World War II, and everybody is watching this trial to see how it proceeds.

Slobodan Milosevic, who is being held personally accountable as one of the main people responsible for the Balkan wars had a historic encounter today with the chief prosecutor, who started by saying, "this will be this tribunal's most important case," and she said we must pause to remember those terrible scenes that we witnessed over the last 10 years of war in the Balkans, a 10 years in which a new term was coined, "ethnic cleansing, and the means of war were beyond the legitimate means of war, the cruelty that was employed is now being held to account.

She insisted that this was a trial of one individual, not a trial of collective responsibility for the whole Serbian people, and she said that this is not a debating chamber, it's a trial chamber, addressing specifically Slobodan Milosevic's penchant so far to just stand up and make political statements, and she is hoping that this trial proceeds in a proper criminal fashion -- Paula.

ZAHN: (AUDIO GAP) Christiane, how long might the trial last?

AMANPOUR: It could last about two years. This is a trial which is, in fact, is a combined trial for alleged crimes committed during three Balkan wars. Kosovo, Croatia, and Bosnia. There are some 66 different charges with which Milosevic is indicted, ranging from crimes against humanity, to the most serious crime against international law, and that is the crime of genocide. Also violations of the Geneva Convention, and the laws and customs of war.

There are going to be at least several hundred witnesses called, including what the prosecutors say will be insider witnesses, people who were close to Milosevic, high-ranking military, she said diplomats, and, indeed, government officials who she believes will be able to bolster her case.

For his part, Slobodan Milosevic is saying that this is politically-motivated trial, biased against him and all the Serbian people, and that he was just defending the Serbian people during those 10 years that he was president of Yugoslavia, and before that, president of Serbia -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right. Thanks so much for that report. Christiane Amanpour.

Interesting to note that Slobodan Milosevic is apparently wanting to call Prime Minister Tony Blair and former president, President Clinton to speak, and we are told the likelihood of that happening is just about nil.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com