Mr Slobodan Milosevic clashed with a BBC journalist at his UN war crimes trial today in an attempt to demolish her testimony on a Serb-staged massacre in a Kosovo prison.
The former Yugoslav president, who is defending himself against a battery of charges for crimes against humanity, cast doubt upon Ms Jacky Rowland's account of her visits to the Dubrava prison, where Serbian forces are accused of killing more than 50 inmates after NATO raids in May 1999.
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Mr Slobodan Milosevic is escorted into the UN court in The Hague
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Mr Milosevic claimed the deaths filmed by the BBC at Dubrava prison - which housed more than 900 Kosovo Albanians - were the result of the NATO bombs.
"I have very strong doubts that all victims were killed by NATO bombings," the 38-year-old reporter said in testimony given amid fierce debate on whether journalists should be made to testify in such cases.
Mr Milosevic questioned the journalist about how she could be sure of the causes of death of the Dubrava victims, who were filmed by BBC crew.
"I can see you have both your arms, I can see the features of your face, I can see that you are intact. If you were hit by a bomb, heaven forbid, I think I would be able to tell by looking at your body if that was the cause of your death," Ms Rowland's retorted.
"I take a great deal of pride of the reports I made in Yugoslavia," she added.
After Ms Rowland stressed the objectivity of her work, the defendant suggested that her view did not mean that BBC had reported the truth on the subject.
"One swallow doesn't make the spring," he told the court.
Mr Milosevic is charged with over 60 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his involvement in the wars in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia. For the Bosnian war he is also charged with genocide.
Earlier, a heart specialist recommended that Mr Milosevic take frequent breaks in order to rest up during his trial, judicial sources said.
The former Yugoslav president should be given four consecutive days off after every two weeks of hearings, the cardiologist told presiding judge Richard May of the UN tribunal.
The trial, which has concentrated on the Kosovo conflict since it got underway in February, will focus on Bosnia and Croatia beginning September 30th.
AFP