On March 11, 2006 Slobodan Milosevic , the so-called Butcher of the Balkans, was found dead, believed to be of a heart attack, in his cell at the Scheveningen detention center in The Hague, as he awaited the conclusion of his war crimes tribunal. He had had high blood pressure and had requested in January and again in late February medical treatment in Moscow, where his family was; the requests were denied. Milosevic, in true Serbian ‘victim and martyr’ fashion, according to the New York Times, was examined for hearing problems and headaches on March 10. Dr. Donald Uges, a toxicologist from the University of Groningen, hypothesized that Milosevic had been “manipulating medication [not prescribed to him] to fake a medical condition” that ultimately lead to a heart attack and his death. Rifampicin, which would counteract blood pressure medication, was found in his blood stream in late February, although it may have started in October 2005 in a ploy to escape prison. If true, this would also raise questions about how Milosevic was able to get a powerful antibiotic that is difficult to acquire in the Netherlands and who had routine access to both Milosevic and the drug in the appropriate dosages. Dr. Uges wryly said: “it’s like a James Bond story.”
In the days following the death pronouncement, Milosevic’s family said the patriarch was poisoned and wife Mirjana, brother Boroslav, and son Marko all blamed the tribunal for his death. His death has polarized not only the Serbian population but most anyone linked to the tribunal. According to CNN, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Paddy Ashdown said that Milosevic “led?Serbia into catastrophe and shame.” And, US envoy Richard Holbrooke, while saying “I’m not going to shed any tears,” held out hope that the Tribunal could bring justice to his victims. The US officially blames Milosevic for the “violent dismemberment of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, including?two horrific wars?” Further, Croatian President Stipe Mesic said: “It is a pity he didn’t live to the end of the trial to get the sentence he deserved.” Conversely, Serbian President Boris Tadic expressed his condolences to the Milosevic family. Tadic’s sentiments are widely echoed by the national pride of the Serbian population, who heralded him as a patriotic hero. Said a party member: “He was killed in The Hague?he had managed to defend the national and state interests of Serbia and the Serb people, and everybody should be grateful to him for that.”
His lawyer requested an autopsy be performed in Russia, but the call was denied. An autopsy was performed by a Dutch team, overseen by a Serbian pathologist among others, on March 12. Since then, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has announced his disappointment in the tribunal’s refusal to allow Milosevic treatment in Moscow. According to Lavrov, as quoted by Itar-Tass, “Russia was ready to offer medical treatment for Milosevic and give a 100-percent guarantee that he would return to The Hague after the treatment. We were concerned about this…moreover Milosevic died soon after that.” Russian forensic specialists have asked to study the body and perform their own post-mortem autopsy, which may delay burial plans in the unlikely event that the request is granted. The pariah’s death came one day before the anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic , one of the main leaders behind Milosevic’s ouster. His death also came less than a week after Milan Babic, a Serb rebel leader convicted of war crimes, committed suicide in the same detention center.
Milosevic’s death comes months before the four-year trial was expected to conclude. He faced 66 counts of, among others, genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches, violations of the laws or customs of war, and war crimes related to the dissolution and ethnic cleansing of Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. The International Criminal Tribunal said that his death will “prevent justice [from being] done.” Six more Bosnian Serb leaders?among them Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic?remain elusive from the Tribunal. Mladic is hiding in Serbia, and the EU has threatened to terminate the country’s prospective membership at the end of March if he is not turned over.
One key unanswered topic is the impact of Milosevic’s death on the status of Kosovo . Serbia may find itself notoriously bearing similar shame to what Germany has born for 30+ years for the sins of the Nazi regime. Milosevic, like Hitler, escaped punishment through suicide. What must immediately be decided is where Milosevic will be buried and whether he should be accorded full presidential honors. According to one street vendor: ”The world developed a bad opinion of us because of his legacy?We’re not the worst people on Earth?We cannot put it behind us?[History] can’t be forgotten. A past like ours you can never get away from.” Another key element is the implications his death might have on others being held for war crimes, like the aging Khmer Rouge leaders of Cambodia . No date has yet been set for the trials of the two detained surviving despots?Ta Mok and Kang Kek leu (aka Duch)?responsible for 1.7 million peoples’ deaths due to starvation, disease, or forced labor from 1975-1978. Others?including Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary?remain free. For the sake of resolution and healing, “everybody needs to move forward quickly?And of course this concern is heightened by the death of Slobodan Milosevic over the weekend,” according to Halen Jarvis, a spokeswoman for the Cambodian tribunals. Milosevic, it was widely believed, would have faced conviction, but his premature death must not impede a national collective resolution to move forward and allow the former Yugoslav populations to heal and amend. Whether he saw his own conviction matters less than whether those affected by his brutality find justice served in his detention and 466-day trial.