Alessio Vinci: Milosevic sets out case

Milosevic showed a video to the tribunal on Thursday

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- CNN's Alessio Vinci is in Yugoslavia covering reaction to the war crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic. He spoke to CNN International's Richard Quest about the video Milosevic presented to the tribunal on Thursday, and the reaction to the trial in Yugoslavia.

QUEST: What is the video trying to show?

VINCI: I think that it builds on the position that the former Yugoslav leader has held all along, that the humanitarian catastrophe ... was not caused primarily by the presence of a large number of Serb and Yugoslav troops in the territory of Kosovo, but rather it was caused by the fact that in March 1999, NATO began a bombing campaign.

The video is a bit confusing -- it is drawn mainly from reports from correspondents and television reports. It doesn't have any first-hand documents. He is not presenting any of his own evidence, he is just reviewing what news reports were saying at the time.

VIDEO Milosevic on trial accused of "the worst crimes known to humankind." CNN's Christiane Amanpour reports (February 12) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES • What they said: Quotes from the prosecution  • Charges: A summary of the indictment  • Timeline: The Milosevic years  • The view from Serbia  • Speaking out for Kosovo's dead    EXTRA INFORMATION • In pictures: Milosevic in court  In-Depth: The case against Milosevic  CNN Presents: The people against Milosevic    RESOURCES On the scene: CNN's Christiane Amanpour reports    CNN.com Europe More news  from our European edition

On the issue of whether the humanitarian catastrophe was taking place before the bombing campaign, this is a question I have put to many Kosovo Albanians, even in recent days. Most of them are telling us that most of the fatalities and killings were taking place before the campaign began.

But one of the survivors of an alleged massacre that has been mentioned in the war crimes indictment against Milosevic and his associates was telling me the brutality was going on, but the full scale of it began once the NATO bombing campaign started.

Milosevic is trying to address a domestic audience. Here in Serbia, the trial is being broadcast live on radio and television stations. Throughout this country we have seen video of the bombing campaign on Belgrade. We have seen the residents of this town sheltering and taking cover in bunkers and these are of course very fresh memories for the people here.

There are a lot of people here who psychologically haven't recovered from that. So Mr Milosevic is certainly trying to appeal to a domestic audience as well.

QUEST: Are people in Belgrade watching it because they are interested -- is the trial creating much attention?

VINCI: The beginning of this trial has been watched with some degree of indifference. I think the majority of people in this country are more concerned with the economic situation here -- with their day-to-day life -- and they are not too keen to go back and watch what has been said at the war crimes tribunal at the Hague.

There is some attention, and I think when Milosevic begins talking, perhaps, people will start listening.

Something, for instance, that concerns a lot of Yugoslav officials here, is that because the trial will be a long one, it will be only what Mr Milosevic has to say that will draw attention here, rather than the details of massacres or the details of a complicated legal procedure.

So in summary, initially there is not much attention, but perhaps when Mr Milosevic starts talking there will be a little more attention.

Certainly the media are all devoted to this, but the population at large are certainly not glued to their television sets trying to find out what is going on at the Hague.