Regret Dominates Reaction To Milosevic's Death

Regret Dominates Reaction To Milosevic's Death

By Charles Recknagel

Regret that former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic will never face judgment and regret for his victims dominate reactions to the death of a man widely seen as the architect of the wars in the Balkans in the 1990s.

PRAGUE, March 11, 2006 (RFE/RL) – World leaders are beginning to react to the death of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, who on March 11 passed away, apparently of natural causes, at the UN war crimes tribunal's detention center in The Hague.

Few are expressing sympathy for the man who was on trial for more than 60 counts, including genocide and crimes against humanity, for his role in the Balkan wars.

Among the first to react to the death of Slobodan Milosevic was French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy. He called the death an occasion to remember -- not the accused war criminal Milosevic -- but his victims.

"I would like to spare a thought for all those who suffered so much from ethnic cleansing, tens of thousands of men, women, and children, which Milosevic conceived and planned," Douste-Blazy said, speaking at a gathering of EU foreign ministers in Austria.

Other leaders likewise looked beyond Milosevic to the damage he did.

Ursula Plassnik, the foreign minister of Austria, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, said Milosevic's death changes neither the past tragedies in region nor the opportunities that the region currently has.

"Politically, for the region and, in particular, for Belgrade, this does not change or alter in any way the need to come to terms with the legacy of the past, with the legacy of which Slobodan Milosevic has been a part," Plassnik said.

The assembled EU ministers repeated that the bloc ultimately wants to see all of the states of the western Balkans join the European Union.

The Reaction In The Balkans

While many leaders in the West looked beyond Milosevic the man, reaction in the states of former Yugoslavia was decidedly more personal.

A representative of Milosevic's Serbian Socialist Party (SPS) told RFE/L that the former Yugoslav president had been murdered.

"It is clear that those who killed him confirmed his death," said Milorad Vucelic, the deputy head of the SPS. "That is not an exaggeration on my part. As you know, based on medical evidence, he had asked to go for medical treatment in Russia. The Hague tribunal refused his request and killed Slobodan Milosevic."

The tribunal in January rejected a request by Milosevic to go to Russia for medical treatment.

Chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte said at the time that Milosevic was getting perfectly adequate care from doctors in The Hague.

Vucelic's charges are at odds with most reports of the death of Milosevic. Officials at the tribunal say that he appears to have died of natural causes. There had been speculation that he had committed suicide.

The former Yugoslav leader had long suffered from health problems, and his heart condition and high blood pressure repeatedly interrupted the proceedings.

Alexandra Milanov, a spokeswoman for the tribunal, told RFE/RL that Milosevic's body was found in his cell at nine o'clock this morning and that an internal inquiry has been ordered.

Dutch police are conducting an autopsy to ascertain the exact cause of death, but have yet to say when they will announce their conclusions.

Many others in the Balkans said that they regret Milosevic's death because it means his trial, which began on February 12, 2002, ends before a verdict could be reached.

The office of Croatian President Stjepan Mesic issued a statement saying "it is a pity that Milosevic did not live through the trial and get his deserved sentence."

Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic said "he ordered a few times assassination attempts against my life. What can I say? I can say it is a pity he didn't face justice in Belgrade."

Bosnian Muslim leader Sulejman Tihic said he wished Milosevic had lived long enough to face punishment.

"Because of the victims, truth and justice, it would have been better if he lived to the end of the trial," said Tihic, the representative of the Bosnian Muslims in the country's three-member presidency.

Milosevic And The Court

In the trial, the 64-year-old Milosevic defended himself and refused to cooperate with court-appointed lawyers.

He pleaded not guilty to all counts, saying that he was not responsible for ordering killings and rapes.

The prosecution feared that, if allowed to receive treatment in Russia, Milosevic would seek to avoid judgment by arguing he was too unwell to travel back to The Hague for the remainder of his trial. The court agreed to keep him in The Hague, despite a promise by Russia to return him.

Milosevic's brother lives in Russia. Prosecutors suspect both his wife and son of involvement in crimes committed during the wars in the Balkans in the 1990s.

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Regret Dominates Reaction To Milosevic's Death