1. A JUDGE TESTIFIES:

On March 31, 2003 (Page 18257 of the transcript starting on line #7)
Mr. Nice: I remind the Court that I never respond to the various allegations that are made by the accused. I'm not going to change the policy now. If at any time the Chamber thinks that these allegations may be simply for external consumption, it's always possible to redact the transcript. I'm not going to enter into any kind of a debate with the accused over that sort of allegation.
[Passage #1 ends here]
***
[Passage #2 begins here]
On April 1, 2003 (Page 18300 of the transcript starting on line #6)
Slobodan Milosevic: I see. We'll come to that later. Now, tell me, please, is it true that you went to the Radojka Lakic elementary school?
Witness Alija Gusalic: Yes.
Slobodan Milosevic: [redacted]
Mr. May: That is totally irrelevant. That's a most improper question.
Slobodan Milosevic: [Interpretation] Mr. May --
Mr. May: No, it is not a proper question, and the witness will not have to answer it. Now, kindly confine yourself to what is relevant and proper.
Mr. Nice: May that passage be redacted from the transcript.
Mr. May: Yes. Now, go on to something else.
Witness Alija Gusalic: [Interpretation] You, Mr. --
Mr. May: Mr. Gusalic.
Witness Alija Gusalic: Shame on you, Mr. Milosevic.
Mr. May: Mr. Gusalic, I can understand that you'll be annoyed, but try not to be. You will be protected from questions of that sort. You're not here to harry the witnesses or bully them, Mr. Milosevic. Now you'll confine yourself to proper questions.
Slobodan Milosevic: Mr. May, I think that this is proof that Mr. Nice is abusing this witness. He is obtaining statements from him which are not truthful.
Mr. May: You can ask the witness proper questions. Now, get -- move on to that.
[Passage #2 ends here]

END OF POINT ONE & CONCLUSION: Is it only me, or does it seem to you too, that the judge is testifying on behalf of the witness?

2. DEFYING THE LAWS OF PHYSICS AND GRAVITY:
2. Two Secret Witnesses Claim they Survived Execution by Soldiers who weren't there...
by Andy Wilcoxson
[Posted 3 June 2003]
Monday at the Hague Tribunal the prosecution called two more black comedy witnesses against Slobodan Milosevic. The two men testified in secret under the pseudonyms, "B-1455" and "B-1098." Nothing that either man said could possibly have anything to do with President Milosevic.
Both claimed to be Muslims who had survived execution by firing squad in the vicinity of Zvornik in Bosnia in 1992.
The only problem was that they couldn't say who tried to kill them. When the Prosecution questioned them, they claimed it was the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). And when President Milosevic questioned them, they repeated the claim that the JNA had tired to kill them, either in late May or early June.
But as President Milosevic pointed out, the JNA had vacated Bosnia in mid-May. So we have unnamed persons who are the victims of alleged crimes at the hands of soldiers who had already left.
Or maybe we have two liars. Whoever they are.
Is this supposed to be evidence against President Milosevic? Or is this just evidence of the prosecution's motto: "At The Hague it isn't what you say, it's whether you're sponsored by NATO." In the case of "B-1098" no forensic evidence was presented that would suggest an attempted execution had taken place. Moreover, "B-1098" was obviously lying. He claimed that he and 63 others had been taken to a meat processing facility and shot. How did they get to the alleged processing plant, President Milosevic asked. The witness said all 64 men had climbed onto a *2 ton truck.* The only problem is, as the President noted, you can't fit 64 men on a 2 ton truck. The witness had fallen into a common trap for liars. In his effort to project an image of credibility, he talked too much and got confused and said something ridiculous.

As you can see the power of absurd is a pretty formidable oponent and it manages to defeat our common sense too. Somehow I tend to side with the loosers (common sense, rather than the winning powers of the absurd)

Iliya Pavlovich, PhD