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| He is once considered to have eat his toe nails. | |||
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| '''Slobodan Milošević''' {{Audio|sr-SlobodanMilosevic.ogg|listen}} (]: '''Слободан Милошевић''', ] ; ], ] – ], ]) was a ], ] leader. He served as ] from 1989 to 1997 and then President of the ] from 1997 to 2000 and also led Serbia's ruling ]. He was one of the key figures in the ] and became the first head of state to be indicted for several ] and ], including ], ] and mass ]s. Following his fall from power, he was extradited to stand trial at the ], but died after five years in prison before the case could be brought to a conclusion. Milošević, who suffered chronic heart ailments and high blood pressure, died of natural causes, according to the UN tribunal.<ref name="AP_death"></ref> | |||
| ==Early career== | |||
| Milošević was a ] ] by origin, born in ], ], during the ] occupation. His father, Svetozar Milošević, committed ] while Slobodan was in high school; he is said to have studied for the Orthodox ], but was never ordained. Slobodan's mother, Stanislava Milošević, hanged herself ten years later. Slobodan married ] (they had a son, Marko, and a daughter, Marija). | |||
| In ], Milošević joined the ] (aka the League of Communists). Milošević also studied law at ] (graduated in ]), where he met ], a young rising star within the Yugoslav Communist Party. Having followed in his mentor's steps, Milošević was later to accuse Stambolić of "having betrayed the Serbian cause". From ] he was deputy CEO of Tehnogas, a firm where Stambolić was CEO. When Stambolić in ] became leader of Communist Party of Serbia, Milošević took his place as CEO of Tehnogas. He worked there untill ] when he took position of chairman of Beogradska Banka (Belgrade Bank). At times he resided in New York as the bank's official representative abroad, and he finally left the bank in ] to dedicate himself to politics. | |||
| ==Rise to power== | |||
| After he was elected president of the ] City Committee of the League of Communists in April ], Milošević publicly opposed nationalism. He prevented the publication of a book containing the works of ], a distinguished Serbian historian, law professor and nationalist politician of the early twentieth century. Milošević also advocated retaining ] as a school subject and publicly lambasted Belgrade's youth for their low turnout at the Communist ''Day of the Youth'', claiming that their absence "desecrated" {{fact}} ]'s character and work. | |||
| Milošević emerged in April ] as the leading force in ]n politics. His political positions have sometimes been termed as ], although socialism and ] also marked his ideology. Later that year, while addressing a Serbian crowd in ] gathered to protest about alleged brutality by local police, he told them that "No one has the right to beat you! No one will ever beat you again!". This broke two important taboos in Yugoslav politics; that Communist officials should not publicly criticise their peers (the police were controlled by the local Communist administration) and that Party officials should not publicly side with one of Yugoslavia's ethnic groups (the local administration was dominated by ethnic ], which the Kosovo Serbs resented). Stambolić later said that "he had seen that day as the end of Yugoslavia". | |||
| Meanwhile, Stambolić had become the party leader in the Serbian section of the League of Communists; in September 1987, he became the ]. To the dismay of senior figures in the party, he supported Milošević for election as the new party leader. Stambolić spent three days advocating Milošević as leader, managing to secure him a narrow victory, by the narrowest margin in the history of Serbian Communist Party internal elections. | |||
| ], Milošević's fairly liberal successor at the head of the Belgrade Committee of the party, opposed Milošević's policies towards Kosovan Serbs, calling them "hastily-promised speed". Contrary to advice from Stambolić, Milošević denounced Pavlović as being soft on ] radicals. On ]rd and ], during a thirty-hour session of the Communist Central Committee broadcast live on state television, Milošević had Pavlović deposed. Embarrassed and under pressure from Milošević's supporters, Stambolić resigned a few days later. | |||
| In February ], Stambolić's resignation was formalized, allowing Milošević to take his place as President. Twelve years later, in the summer of ], Stambolić was kidnapped; his body was found in ] and Milošević charged with ordering his murder. In ], several members of the Serbian secret police and criminal gangs were convicted in Belgrade for a number of murders, including Stambolić's. | |||
| Milošević spent most of 1988 and ] focusing his politics on the "Kosovo problem". His subordinates organized public demonstrations – the so-called "antibureaucratic revolution" – which led to the elected leaderships of ] (], 1988), ] (], 1989) and finally ] itself (in February-March 1989) being removed. ], leader of the Albanian Kosovan majority, was arrested; the special police's intervention during the subsequent ] miners' strike resulted in thirty-two deaths. | |||
| On ], 1989, the ], under Milošević's leadership, amended the Serbian constitution to reduce the autonomy of its two provinces. Three months later, on ] (]' day) and the 600th anniversary of the ], Milošević addressed a large crowd gathered on the supposed site of the battle. Among his remarks was: | |||
| <blockquote>"''We are again engaged in battles and are facing battles. They are not armed battles, although such things cannot be excluded yet.''"</blockquote> | |||
| The speech was widely alleged to be the official beginning of a Serbian nationalist campaign, a defining element of the ] that broke out a few years later. Milošević's defenders claim that speech extolled unity among all peoples in Serbia, pointing to other remarks in Milošević's speech such as: | |||
| <blockquote>"''After all, our entire country should be set up on the basis of such principles. Yugoslavia is a multinational community and it can survive only under the conditions of full equality for all nations that live in it.''"<br> | |||
| "''Equal and harmonious relations among Yugoslav peoples are a necessary condition for the existence of Yugoslavia and for it to find its way out of the crisis.''"</blockquote> | |||
| Milošević closed by saying: | |||
| <blockquote>"''Let the memory of Kosovo heroism live forever! Long live Serbia! Long live Yugoslavia! Long live peace and brotherhood among peoples!"</blockquote> | |||
| == Presidency == | |||
| {{POV-section}} | |||
| Slobodan Milošević was first elected ] by the ] in 1989. | |||
| At the 14th Congress of the ] in January 1990, the delegation of Serbia led by Milošević insisted on the reversal of 1974 ] policy that empowered the republics and rather wanted to introduce a policy of "one person, one vote", which would empower the majority population, the Serbs. This caused the ]n and ]n delegations (led by ] and ], resp.) to leave the Congress in protest and marked a culmination in the rift of the Yugoslav ruling party. | |||
| Milošević presided over the transformation of the League of Communists of Serbia into the ] (July 1990) and the adoption of a new Serbian constitution (September 1990) providing for the direct election of a president with increased powers. Milošević was subsequently re-elected president of the ]n Republic in the direct elections of December 1990 and December 1992. | |||
| In the first free parliamentary elections of December 1990, Milošević's Socialist Party won 80.5% of the vote. The ethnic Albanians in Kosovo largely boycotted the election, effectively eliminating even what little opposition Milošević had. Milošević himself won the presidential election with even higher percentage of the vote. | |||
| Milošević's rise to power happened amidst a growth of nationalism in all the ]n republics following the collapse of ] governments throughout ]. Notably, ]ns elected a nationalist government under ], and the ]ns did the same with ]. The main ] politicians were also nationally oriented. | |||
| The socialist Yugoslavia was at the time governed by an eight-member Presidency where four members were inclined to support Slobodan Milošević's ideas (such as the proclamation of a ]), while four were inclined to oppose it. As the critical decisions would all end in a stalemate, the head of state was rather dysfunctional. | |||
| In June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia seceded from the federation, followed by the republics of Macedonia (September 1991) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (March 1992). The large Serb minorities in Croatia (580,000) and Bosnia (1.36 million) demanded to stay in Yugoslavia based on the same right of self-determination claimed by their Croat and Muslim neighbours. | |||
| The Serbs of ] started organizing their own autonomy as early as mid-1990, and they were supported in this by the Yugoslav government. Through 1991 and early 1992, together with the ], they engaged in a war against the Croatian government. The first leader of Serbs in Croatia, ], has stated that Milošević was responsible for this, whereas his successor ] publicly bragged about how he was "the extended hand of Slobodan Milošević". | |||
| In 1992, the same thing happened in ], as the Yugoslav People's Army moved the bulk of its forces in. In 1995, Milošević negotiated the ] in the name of the Bosnian Serbs (similar to how ] did it for the Bosnian Croats). As the agreement finally brought an end to the war in Bosnia, Milošević was credited in the West with being one of the pillars of Balkan peace. | |||
| == Downfall of Presidency == | |||
| ] | |||
| On ], ], Milošević recognized the opposition victories in some local elections, having contested the results for 11 weeks. | |||
| Constitutionally limited to two terms as ], on ], ], Milošević assumed the ] of the Yugoslav Federation (currently ]). Armed actions by ] separatist groups and Serbian police and military counter-action in Serbia's previously autonomous (and 90% Albanian) province of Kosovo culminated in escalating warfare in 1998, ] against the ] between March and June 1999, and finally a full withdrawal of all Yugoslav security forces from the province. | |||
| During the ] he was indicted on ], ], for alleged ] and ] allegedly committed in ], and he was standing ], up until his death, at the ], which he asserted was illegal, having been established in contravention of the UN-charter. | |||
| The Yugoslav constitution called for a two round election with all but the two leading candidates eliminated for the second round. Official results put Koštunica ahead of Milošević but at under 50%. Opinion polls suggested that supporters of most of the minor candidates would go to Milošević as would numbers of people who abstained in the first round but would oppose an opposition supported by the ] powers. | |||
| Milošević's rejection of claims of a first-round opposition victory in new elections for the Federal presidency in September 2000 led to mass demonstrations in Belgrade on ] and the collapse of the regime's authority. Opposition-list leader ] finally took office as Yugoslav president on ] when Milošević publicly accepted defeat. Ironically, Milošević lost his grip on power by losing in elections which he scheduled prematurely (before the end of his mandate) and which he did not even need to win in order to retain power which was centred in the parliaments which his party and its associates controlled. This downfall is called the ]. | |||
| Following a recently issued warrant for his arrest by the Yugoslav authorities on charges for corruption/abuse of power, Milošević eventually surrendered to security forces on Saturday, ], ]. On ] of the same year, Milošević was transfered by government officials from Yugoslavian to ] custody just inside Bosnian territory. He was then transported to the ], although the Constitution explicitly prohibited extradition of Yugoslav citizens. Koštunica formally opposed the transfer. | |||
| == Trial == | |||
| Following Milošević's transfer, the original charges of war crimes in Kosovo were upgraded by adding charges of ] in Bosnia and war crimes in Croatia. On ], ], Milošević accused the war crimes tribunal of an "evil and hostile attack" against him. The trial began at ] on ], ], with Milošević defending himself while refusing to recognize the legality of the court's jurisdiction. | |||
| His popularity among the Serbs and Yugoslavs again rose sharply once the trial had begun, as his supporters see it as a travesty of justice and violation of national sovereignty. | |||
| Milošević had a team in Belgrade that helped him, often sending him information available from the ] files. Serbian insiders often supported Milošević's point of view, while Bosnian and Croatian witnesses have offered a lot of testimonies supporting the indictments. The tribunal has to prove he had command responsibility in Croatia and Bosnia, at least ''de facto,'' since formally as a ] at the time he was not in charge. His influence may have gone beyond his formal duties, but there is little to no record of this. | |||
| Milošević was not considered by some contemporaries to be a radical ] himself (although some of his followers were). Milošević's ] did not make use of ]. | |||
| At one point during the ], Serbia had rejected further cooperation with the Croatian Serbs (the ]), and also with the Bosnian Serbs (the ], in 1993, when Serbia closed the border over the ] river). After the Dayton Agreement in 1995, the Serbian nationalists (]'s ]) became his sturdy opponents, up until 1998 when they joined his party in a coalition government. | |||
| The trial is still a controversial issue and has featured many conflicting and strange testimonies, which are viewed by all sides of the argument to support theories of cover-ups and dishonesty by the opposing parties. For example: | |||
| * the statement by ], the US former ambassador to El Salvador during its war, that he did not remember phoning several senior US officials to say that, at ], he had discovered a justification for a NATO war, but did not dispute that officials who said they had received his calls were telling the truth, | |||
| * the testimony by General ] that Milošević had come to him privately at a conference to admit to prior knowledge of the ] and in the same evidence that NATO had no links to the ], | |||
| * the statement by Rade Marković that a written statement he had made implicating Milošević had been extracted from him by ill-treatment legally amounting to torture by named NATO officers, | |||
| * the statement by ] (author of the Vance Owen Plan) that Milošević was the only leader who had consistently supported peace and that any form of racism was personally "anathema" to him. | |||
| The prosecution took two years to present its case in the first part of the trial, where they covered the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Throughout the two-year period, the trial was being closely followed by the publics of the involved former Yugoslav republics as it covered various notable events from the war and included several high-profile witnesses. | |||
| Milošević got increasingly ill during this time (high blood pressure and severe flu), which caused intermissions and prolongued the trial by at least six months. In early 2004, when he finally appeared in court in order to start presenting his defense (announcing over 1,200 witnesses), the two ICTY judges decided to appoint him two defense lawyers in accordance with the medical opinions of the resident cardiologists. This action was opposed by Milošević himself and the pair of British lawyers appointed to him. | |||
| In October 2004, the trial was resumed after being suspended for a month to allow ] Steven Kay, who complained Milošević was not cooperating, to prepare the defense. Steven Kay has since asked to be allowed to resign from his court appointed position, complaining that of the 1200 witnesses he has only been able to get five to testify. Many of the other witnesses refused to testify in protest of ICTYs decision not to permit Milošević to defend himself. | |||
| In November 2004, former ] Premier ] became the first high profile witness to testify for the defence. | |||
| If a ] case for either claim were established, the ICTY would be legally obliged under its terms of reference to prepare an indictment against the leaders of most of the NATO countries, even though the Prosecutor already concluded an "inquiry" against the NATO leaders. | |||
| ==Supporters of Milošević== | |||
| There are some writers and journalists who have argued that the criminality of Milošević's actions during the Bosnian Civil War have been exaggerated to provide justification for the military intervention. Political scientist ] has made the case that Milošević, and the actions of the Serbs more broadly, were systematically exaggerated by the mainstream U.S. media during the period of NATO's bombing (see Parenti's book "To Kill a Nation" for more details). | |||
| Additionally, Paris based journalist ] made the case in her work of investigative journalism '']'' that Milošević's actions were marginal at best, and certainly not greater than the crimes of the Croats or the Bosnian Muslims, even going so far as to claim that the massacre of ] did not occur, and was a media fabrication. Johnstone though, has been claimed as a long-standing friend of Mirjana Marković, Milošević's wife. | |||
| Political scientist ] (former co-author with ]) publicly endorsed Johnstone's findings in his review of ''Fool's Crusade'' in the '']'' after the book's publication.<ref name=herman2003>{{cite web | author=Herman, Edward S. | title=Diana Johnstone on the Balkan Wars | year=2003 | url=http://www.monthlyreview.org/0203herman.htm}}</ref> | |||
| ] himself has not commented on the accuracy of Johnstone's findings although he has indicated that he regretted not supporting her book strongly enough upon publication. This comment was then allegedly distorted by journalist ] in an interview with Chomsky in '']'' on October 31, 2005 to make it appear as though Chomsky himself was denying the ]. ] in response, issued an open letter to the '']'' in which he accused Brockes and the editors of fabrication <ref name=chomsky>{{cite web | author=Chomsky, Noam | title=Open Letter to The Guardian | year=2005 | url=http://www.chomsky.info/letters/20051113.htm}}</ref>, '']'' later apologized to Chomsky and retracted the article in a short letter.<ref name=guardian>{{cite web | author=The Guardian | title=Corrections and clarifications: The Guardian and Noam Chomsky | year=2005 | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/corrections/story/0,3604,1644017,00.html}}</ref> | |||
| ] later commented on '']'' piece in ]'s journal '']''.<ref name=johnstone2005>{{cite web | author=Johnstone, Diana | title=The Origins of the Guardian's Attack on Chomsky | year=2005 | url=http://www.counterpunch.org/johnstone11142005.html}}</ref> Chomsky does not agree with Johnstone's views on Milošević, the ], or ] in particular, but has been critical of NATO's intervention and has indicated that the campaign was carried out with prior knowledge that the bombing would escalate the atrocities. His views on that topic can be found in his book '']''. | |||
| University of Pennsylvania Professor investigative journalism on and reveals documentation that, he believes, supports the claims that the criminality of Milošević's actions as President of Yugoslavia were exaggerated, if not wholly fabricated. | |||
| == Death == | |||
| {{wikinews|Former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic dead}} | |||
| Milošević was found dead in his cell on ], ] in the UN war crimes tribunal's detention center in ].<ref name=ICTYdeathreport>{{cite web | author=ICTY | title=Pressrelease reporting Milošević's death | year=2006 | url=http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2006/p1050-e.htm}}</ref> An official in the chief prosecutor's office said that he had been found at about 10 a.m. Saturday and had apparently been dead for several hours.<ref name=CNN>{{cite web | author=CNN | title= Milosevic found dead in cell | year=2006 | url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/03/11/milosovic/}}</ref> The ] said that he had been suffering from heart problems and ].<ref name=NBC>{{cite web | author=NBC | title=Slobodan Milosevic Dies In Prison | year=2006 | url=http://www.nbc11.com/news/7903640/detail.html}}</ref><ref name=BBC>{{cite web | author=BBC | title=Milosevic found dead in his cell | year=2006 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4796470.stm}}</ref>. Although his death was reported early on 11 March it was only officially confirmed at 13.19 CET by the Dutch NOS news agency. | |||
| His trial had been due to resume on ] with testimony from the former president of ], ]. The tribunal had recently denied his request to travel to ] for specialist medical treatment. He had planned to appeal against this decision, saying that his condition was worsening.<ref name=CNN/> His death from natural causes has been announced by the ],<ref name=news.com.au>{{cite web | author=news.com.au | title=Justice dies with Milosevic | year=2006 | url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18434402-2,00.html}}</ref> although speaking to television cameras in The Hague, Milošević's lawyer, Zdenko Tomanović, stated that Milošević had feared that he was being poisoned, and demanded that an autopsy be carried out in Russia rather than in the Netherlands. Request for autopsy in Russia was denied by ICTY and his body was transported to ]. Request for presence of one pathologist from Belgrade was granted.<ref name=reuters.co.uk>{{cite web | author=reuters.co.uk | title=Lawyer says Milosevic feared he was being poisoned | year=2006 | url=http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-03-11T180658Z_01_L11764575_RTRUKOC_0_UK-WARCRIMES-MILOSEVIC-POISON.xml}}</ref> | |||
| ==References== | |||
| <references/> | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| *]. "The New Military Humanism: Lessons from Kosovo." | |||
| *]. "Fool's Crusade." | |||
| *]. "To Kill A Nation: NATO's Attack on Yugoslavia." Verso | |||
| *]. "Milosevic: A Biography." | |||
| ==External links== | |||
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| * Dusan Vilic and Bosko Todorovic | |||
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| |NAME=Milošević, Slobodan | |||
| |ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Милошевић, Слободан (Serbian) | |||
| |SHORT DESCRIPTION=] | |||
| |DATE OF BIRTH=] ] | |||
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| |DATE OF DEATH=March 10, 2006 | |||
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Revision as of 00:24, 12 March 2006
He is once considered to have eat his toe nails.