Milosevic slams 'unscrupulous lie'
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has launched a fiery defense against charges of war crimes and genocide, calling the case a "treacherous distortion of history."
Milosevic, speaking Tuesday at the start of the long-delayed second half of his trial, charged that prosecutors had "presented everything in a lopsided manner" to fit their version of events.
The former Serb strongman said the accusations against him were "an unscrupulous lie and also a treacherous distortion of history."
Milosevic began the trial by complaining to the judges that he had been given just four hours to make his opening statement, while prosecutors were given three days to outline their case when the trial began in February 2002.
But presiding judge Patrick Robinson ordered Milosevic to proceed, saying that the defense case had repeatedly been delayed by Milosevic's frail health.
Milosevic, 63, faces 66 war crimes charges -- including genocide -- for allegedly starting three wars during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s when more than 200,000 people were killed.
Prosecutors say he was responsible for ethnic cleansing in the former republics to create a greater Serbia.
The prosecution, which wrapped up its case in February after testimony from nearly 300 witnesses, has tried to link Milosevic directly to the Balkans wars.
Milosevic has pleaded innocent and insists on defending himself despite his poor health.
Originally set for April, the defense has been postponed five times after doctors determined that Milosevic's blood pressure was dangerously high.
But Milosevic, wearing a dark suit, pale blue shirt and tie, was on fighting form Tuesday as he launched his defense.
The judges, anxious to put the trial back on course, placed the launch of the defense at the top of the agenda. Milosevic's health, and the possible imposition of a defense lawyer could be discussed later, the judges ruled.
Earlier this year, Milosevic said he would call hundreds of witnesses in his defense.
He has demanded that former U.S. President Bill Clinton and over 1,600 others appear as defense witnesses, but Milosevic has only 150 days to present his case.
But the court has said he must provide good reason as to why any witness should appear.
The former Serb strongman also refuses to recognize the legality of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and observers say he could run into procedural difficulties while conducting his own defense.
Milosevic has argued in the past that a 1999 crackdown he ordered on ethnic Albanian Muslims in Kosovo was intended to protect the Serbian minority there.
He also says NATO's 78-day bombing campaign, which forced out his troops from the region, caused civilian deaths.
Additionally, Milosevic has said that when he was president of a crumbling Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, he did not have control over Serb troops in neighboring Croatia and Bosnia.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
