Milosevic vows to defeat the ‘Nato machine’
Slobodan Milosevic today vowed to fight the Nato ‘‘machine’’ and said he had no regrets about his past.
‘‘I’m proud of what I did to defend freedom and independence, without which no people and no country can live,’’ Milosevic said through his brother Borislav, Yugoslavia’s former ambassador to Russia.
The former Yugoslav president, now in UN custody in the Netherlands, phoned his brother in Moscow.
Calling the UN tribunal where he is to be tried for alleged war crimes an arm of Nato, Milosevic said he had truth on his side.
‘‘This Nato tribunal is a form of aggression not only against the people of Yugoslavia, but against other peoples and countries as well,’’ he said.
‘‘On their side is the giant machine of the Nato court, a political machine, an information machine, but I feel that I’m superior to them as truth is on my side.’’
Milosevic did not refer directly to the current Nato operation in Macedonia but said the alliance’s activities in the region were aimed at world domination.
His call to Borislav Milosevic’s mobile phone, interrupted a meeting of the Society of Slavic Culture and Literature, a little-known Moscow group that gathered to celebrate Milosevic’s 60th birthday.
Borislav Milosevic repeated the former leader’s words aloud in Russian, as supporters, including Russia’s Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov, and some journalists listened.
‘‘The occupation of the Balkans that is taking place clearly reveals their future intentions concerning Russia and other free nations,’’ he said.
‘‘Instead of the Fascist swastika and other such symbols, today they are using the word democracy. We all must combine our efforts to repel this new colonialism.’’
Borislav Milosevic, who was recalled from his diplomatic post after Milosevic’s overthrow, said the ex-president was ‘‘feeling well’’ and remained in a ‘‘fighting spirit.’’
Milosevic was arrested in April by Serbian police on charges of corruption and abuse of power during 13 years as Yugoslavia’s president. Belgrade agreed to demands by the UN tribunal that he first face international war crimes charges and surrendered him to The Hague on June 28.
His lawyers today asked a Dutch court to rule that the UN court is illegal and to free the former president . A decision was expected on August 31.
Milosevic is to appear before UN judges again on August 30.
