Milosevic in bizarre defence tactic

Slobodan Milosevic today began his defence against war crimes charges with a bizarre move as he insisted on playing in full two obscure German television documentaries.

The war crimes tribunal had been primed for an angry rant from Milosevic. Instead, in a clear attempt to strain the patience of the judges, he warned he would not tolerate any interruptions before playing the documentaries in a broadcast lasting nearly an hour. He claimed they were an "atom of truth in an ocean of lies" - what amounted to a global conspiracy against him.

The former Yugoslav President is accused of ordering genocide and crimes against humanity in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

The first film he showed examined the notorious massacre at Racak in Kosovo. The discovery there of a mass grave of 44 Kosovans apparently killed by Serb soldiers led directly to the Nato attacks on Milosevic. The film suggested the massacre might have been a Western propaganda exercise. The second film looked at Nato's alleged media manipulation during its war on Milosevic.

After they finished, Milosevic, 61, rounded on the judges: "The media misinforms the public but people in the West are raising their voices - people who like the truth. These voices will become louder and the shame will become greater - the shame of those who lied about Yugoslavia."

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