UPDATE: 3/12/06 It's been determined that Milosevic died of heart attack
As reported by Reuters, the 'butcher of the Balkans' as he was called for presiding over the slaughter of more than 250,000 people, the former Yugoslavian leader was found dead in his cell yesterday, at a UN prison near the Hague. He was being tried for 66 counts of crimes against humanity including genocide.
He was 64 with a history of high blood pressure and heart disease. Milosevic's family and attorney voiced suspicion, and a full autopsy and toxicological examination will be conducted. Both his parents had committed suicide when he was a young man.
His attorney told reporters that the former Serb leader had told him the day before that he thought he was being poisoned, and said "Yesterday I informed the Russian embassy on behalf of Mr Milosevic about his claims that his health was being wilfully destroyed, and that this should be (investigated) by the Russians." Another prisoner died just before Milosevic.
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."
Many are saying that the death of Milosevic and the ineffective prosecution of Saddam Hussein show the need to streamline such trials. Milosevic had been on trial before the UN court in The Hague since February 2002, and as pointed out by Canada.com, "By comparison, the Allied tribunal at Nuremberg took less than a year to try, convict, sentence and hang the 10 top Nazi defendants following the Second World War."
See video HERE. (Click on Milosevic pic. There is a short commercial first)
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