Russia intervened in the row over the death of Slobodan Milosevic on Monday, when it sent a team of doctors to The Hague to examine his body after expressing doubts about the reliability of the post-mortem examination.
As Belgrade indicated that it would allow the funeral of the former Serbian leader to take place on its soil, the Russian government voiced ”alarm” at the sudden death of Milosevic. ”We have the right not to believe and not to trust those who are conducting this autopsy,” the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said as he announced that four Russian pathologists would fly to The Hague.
The intervention by Russia, a clear demonstration of Vladimir Putin’s recent determination to flex his muscles, compounded the sense of uncertainty since Milosevic died of a heart attack on Saturday in his prison cell near the international war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The former president’s family and supporters, who have accused Dutch medical authorities of failing to provide adequate medical care, were on Monday involved in a show of will with the Serbian government over funeral arrangements.
Mira Markovic, his widow who lives in exile in Moscow, is demanding that the Serb authorities drop charges against her for abuse of power to allow her to attend her husband’s funeral. This was rejected out of hand on Monday night by the Serbian President, Boris Tadic, who also dismissed calls from the Socialist party for Milosevic to be granted a full state funeral.
Some Socialist supporters of Milosevic, who hope to use his death to increase pressure on the Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, called for him to be buried with full honours in the Avenue of the Heroes. Tadic said that a state funeral ”would be highly inappropriate”.
Some supporters indicated that they would settle for a less formal funeral, though they demanded that all members of the Milosevic family should be allowed to attend. Marko Milosevic, the leader’s son, who is free to travel to Serbia, on Monday demanded guarantees of safety. Marko Milosevic, whose controversial business dealings have earned him many enemies in Serbia, said in Moscow: ”If I do not get [a guarantee of security], then I will not agree [to the Belgrade burial] because I have just lost a father and am not getting ready to risk my mother.”
Milosevic was granted permission on Monday to travel to The Netherlands to accompany his father’s body home if the family reaches agreement with the Serb authorities on the funeral arrangements. He may arrive in The Netherlands on Tuesday with the Russian pathologists.
Moscow and Belgrade are keen for a new postmortem examination because both sides believe the authorities at the tribunal failed to provide adequate healthcare. Russia is particularly angry that the tribunal rejected a recent request by Milosevic to travel to Moscow for medical treatment despite assurances he would be sent back to The Hague.
Less than a week ago Milosevic wrote to the Russian foreign ministry to claim he was being poisoned. In a letter on March 8 he wrote of attempts to ”destroy my health” after doctors found high doses of drugs to treat leprosy and TB. ”Those who foist on me a drug against leprosy surely can’t treat my illness,” wrote the 64-year-old, who had a heart condition.
But a Dutch toxicologist indicated on Monday that Milosevic may have taken the drugs to reduce the effectiveness of other medication in an attempt to weaken his health, thereby increasing his chances of travelling to Russia.
Donald Uges told the Associated Press: ”First he wasn’t taking his medicine. Then he was forced to take it under supervision and his blood pressure still didn’t come down. So his camp said, ‘You see, these Dutch doctors don’t know how to treat him and he should go to Russia.”’
The row over the circumstances of Milosevic’s death is likely to raise questions about Serbia’s ability to turn its back on the civil war of the 1990s. The EU has made clear that unless it cooperates with attempts to arrest Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, the indicted Bosnian Serb war criminals, Serbia’s EU membership talks will be put on ice.
But Tadic, whose Democratic party led a popular revolt that toppled Milosevic in 2000, insisted that Serbia would cooperate.
”Today in Serbia we have a fight [for power] by those who ruled together with Milosevic. But I’m absolutely confident that there will be no turning back on the political scene in Serbia. Not even Milosevic’s death will change Serbia’s path towards democracy.” – Guardian Unlimited Â