UN war crimes tribunal finds itself in dock over Milosevic death

UN war crimes tribunal finds itself in dock over Milosevic death

The UN war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia has found itself in the dock over the death of Slobodan Milosevic, coming under a barrage of criticism from his family and supporters.

But the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) rejected responsiblity for the former Yugoslav President's death, the fourth detainee to die in custody and the key figure in all the Balkan's conflicts.

"The Hague tribunal has killed my husband," Milosevic's wife Mirjana Markovic was quoted as saying by CNN from Moscow.

The court's judges denied in February a request from the 64-year-old Milosevic, who was suffering from high blood pressure and heart problems, to undergo medical treatment in Moscow.

Despite guarantees from the Russian government that Milosevic would return to stand trial, the judges said there was a risk he would flee and said they saw no reason why Russian doctors could not treat him in the Netherlands.

Milosevic's brother Borislav said the tribunal's judges bore "full responsibility" for his death, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

The ICTY "is totally discredited, judicially and morally," he said on Russian television.

Zdenko Tomanovic, a legal adviser of Milosevic, said the former Yugoslav president claimed to have been the target of an attempted poisoning.

"Mr Milosevic said there were attempts to poison him in the prison," he told journalists in The Hague.

The ICTY said Serbian experts were to participate in the autopsy Sunday, and Tomanovic said later that the court had approved a request from Milosevic's family for a Russian expert to be present as well.

The court denied it had any responsibility in his death and had neglected to give him adequate care.

"The tribunal has nothing to be blamed for," tribunal spokesman Christian Chartier told AFP.

"The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) takes the utmost care of its indictees and of (Milosevic) in particular," he said.

"We cannot be blamed for negligence."

Milosevic had repeatedly complained the tribunal was trying to kill him, saying the court's doctors did not take good care of him.

His mammoth trial on more than 60 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1990s Balkan wars had been interrupted over a dozen times since it started in February 2002 because Milosevic fell ill.

The ICTY had come under steady criticism for allowing the trial, in which Milosevic defended himself, to drag on for so long and analysts said his death was a huge blow for the court's other cases.

"According to the indictment, Milosevic held the key to all the conflicts in the Balkans," Ana Uzelac of watchdog organisation Impunity Watch, who followed the Milosevic trial closely, told AFP.

Milosevic's death followed an embarrassment earlier in the week when it was announced that former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic had committed suicide in the detention centre.

Two other detainees have died in custody: one committed suicide in 1998 and another died of natural causes.

Milosevic's supporters blamed the UN court for his death.

"He was systematically killed by all the years he spent in The Hague and this is a great loss for Serbia, the Serbian people and the Socialist Party of Serbia," said Ivica Dacic, the current leader of Milosevic's Socialist Party.

Serbian newspapers lashed out Sunday, blaming the tribunal for the "murder" of Milosevic.

"The Hague killed Milosevic," said the front pages of both Press and Glas Javnosti, against black backgrounds bearing large pictures of the former Serbian strongman.

"Murdered," said Kurir, another of the Balkan state's lurid dailies.

A senior Russian lawmaker called on the ICTY's judges to resign.

"Those who refused Milosevic permission to come here for treatment should resign," Lyobov Sliska, a leading figure in the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, and a deupty speaker of parliament, was quoted as saying by the Ria-Novosti news agency.

Copyright © 2006 AFP