UN refuses to rule out Milosevic suicide

BELGRADE - Suicide cannot be ruled out as the cause of Slobodan Milosevic's death, the UN's chief war crimes prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, said yesterday as she rejected criticism of her handling of the marathon trial of the ex-Yugoslav president.

With a Serbian pathologist in attendance, a Dutch medical team yesterday carried out an autopsy on the body of the 64-year-old ex-leader who was found dead in his cell.

Zdenko Tomanovic, Milosevic's lawyer, produced a six-page letter written by the former Yugoslav president on the day before his death claiming that traces of a "heavy drug" were found in his blood.

Mr Tomanovic said Milosevic was "seriously concerned" he was being poisoned.

"'They would like to poison me,"' he quoted his client as telling him.

As the court awaited results from the autopsy, Ms Del Ponte said the defendant's death "deprives victims of the justice they need and deserve." There were, she added, two possible causes: "normal, natural death and suicide".

With Milosevic receiving medication for high blood pressure and a heart condition, it was impossible to monitor whether he was following the prescribed course of drugs, she added.

Whatever the cause of death, Milosevic's demise has been a huge blow to the UN tribunal, bringing Europe's largest war crime tribunal since Nuremberg to an abrupt end without a verdict.

Yesterday Ms Del Ponte defended her decision to mount such a vast, all-encompassing, case against Milosevic, rather than focusing on narrower grounds.

She argued: "It is not just a question of conviction and sentencing.

It is a question of truth, that is important for the victims particularly that they have the full knowledge of what happened." But Richard Dicker, Director of the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch, said:

"What needs to be done is that the prosecutor needs to focus their indictment on the most representative crimes for which there is the strongest evidence.

"Criminal trials cannot be the vehicle for writing anything approaching the definitive history of the crimes that occurred."

The prosecutor said that evidence gathered against the former Serb leader would be used in other cases.

And she argued that Milosevic's death increased the need for the Serb authorities to arrest and surrender the two most prominent other war crimes suspects, former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, and his military commander, Ratko Mladic.

"The death of Slobodan Milosevic makes it even more urgent for them to face justice," said Ms Del Ponte.

In fact the events of the weekend are more likely to make the government in Belgrade hesitate before moving against Karadzic and Mladic, amid rising criticism among Serbs of the UN authorities.

Milosevic's death came just one week after former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic committed suicide in the same prison in Scheveningen, a suburb of The Hague.

Babic, once a Milosevic ally, had been a key prosecution witness in his trial.

In Serbia there was widespread criticism of the tribunal for relaxed surveillance and negligence of Milosevic's health.

His death has eroded trust further in a country which never had faith in the impartiality of the court.

"I'm sorry Milosevic did not live to be sentenced, but it is just unbelievable that he died just like that and was found only hours later" said Mladen Popovic a 53-year-old Belgrade playwright.

"Wasn't there any kind of video surveillance?"

Meanwhile court officials may have to review their strategy for dealing with high-profile prosecutions.

The former Yugoslav president faced 66 counts, including genocide - the most serious charge and the most difficult to prove.

The allegations spanned eight years and involved war crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo.

By the time of the defendant's death the court had sat for 466 days worth of four hour sessions, listened to 295 witnesses and seen around 5000 exhibits.

Though the trial was delayed because of Milosevic's frequent health problems, the defendant also managed to drag out and abuse court proceedings by insisting on conducting his defence.

Mr Dicker argued: "With the best of intentions, judges bent over backward to respect Milosevic's right to defend himself.

"I am a human rights lawyer and I am concerned about fair trial rights but I was dismayed to see Milosevic asking the same question over and over again, badgering witnesses and making interminable political speeches."

Most experts reject the idea of an "Al Capone"-style prosecution for offences such as corruption, but Mr Dicker said, "in retrospect, separate indictments for crimes in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo would have been more manageable."

In Serbia itself there was no sign of national grief after the sudden death of the man who led the country for 11 years.

Official TV and independent media reported the controversy surrounding his death, but also covered commemorations for the third anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, who masterminded the ousting of Mr Milosevic in 2000.

More people with candles gathered at the ceremony at Belgrade New Cemetery where Mr Djindjic was buried than at the downtown premises of Mr Milosevic's once all powerful Socialist Party where only a small queue of his supporters waited to sign the book of condolences.

Serbs remain divided in their feelings towards Milosevic.

For many he has faded into history though for some he remains a war hero and symbol of Serb nation.

"He's history, he was gone since 2000" 35-year-old Dragana Marjanovic, a female cab driver told The Independent.

"I scarcely thought about him. I have my boys, seven and 11, my husband and my job to think about."

But for some Serbs, Mr Milosevic still remains a hero.

Mira Tesanovic, age 42, vendor at Belgrade Kalenic market and war-time refugee from Sarajevo cried after hearing the bad news.

"It was so hard to believe it" she said.

"I lost a twin brother in the war and nine family members. Milosevic was my hero, the man who tried to save Serbs" Mrs Tesanovic added.

It remains unclear where Mr Milosevic will be buried.

Moscow is one possibility as his wife Mira, son Marko and brother Borislav live there.

- INDEPENDENT