From: icdsm-italia @...
Subject: [icdsm-italia] The murder of Milosevic: more texts
Date: March 30, 2006 8:15:02 PM GMT+02:00
To: icdsm-italia @yahoogroups.com
The murder of Milosevic: more texts
1. TEXT OF SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC'S LETTER TO THE RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MARCH 8th
2. TEXT OF MIRA MARKOVIC'S LETTER, READ IN POZAREVAC ON MARCH 18th
3. ICDSM-Irland's Jefferies letter to doctor Uges, March 14th
4. Letter of Dr. T. Stuttaford to The Times, March 14th
5. RUSSIAN DUMA UNANIMOUSLY CALLS FOR TERMINATION OF "TRIBUNAL", March
14th-15th
6. Momir Bulatovic: Milosevic believed was being poisoned in ICTY
(March 15th)
7. Zyuganov calls Hague Tribunal 'criminal' at Belgrade ceremony
(March 18th)
8. Russia requests UN info on Hague Tribunal prisoners conditions
(March 21st)
9. Milosevic lawyers want medical records unsealed (March 24th)
10. Pro-Milosevic Serbian lawmakers hold minute of silence for late
leader (March 27)
MORE LINKS:
Upisite se u knjigu zalosti / Book of condolences:
http://www.slobodanmilosevic.info/
Photos of the funeral:
http://www.icdsmireland.org
http://www.slobodan.info
http://www.b92.net/info/galerija/index.php?nav_category=99
(see the days from 16 to 19 of March)
Una galleria, con commenti in italiano, è stata realizzata da SOS
Yugoslavia di Torino e si trova alle pagine:
http://www.resistenze.org/sito/te/po/se/pose6c19.htm
http://www.resistenze.org/sito/te/po/se/pose6c19a.htm
http://www.resistenze.org/sito/te/po/se/pose6c19b.htm
=== 1 ===
TEXT OF SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC'S LETTER TO THE RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN
AFFAIRS
The text of a handwritten letter dated March 8, 2006, written by
Slobodan Milosevic to Russia asking for its help. It was provided in
an English translation by his lawyer Zdenko Tomanovic:
To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation:
Dear ladies and gentlemen,
With my acknowledgment for the solidarity and understanding which you
expressed by accepting to receive me to come for medical treatment and
by giving guarantees, I would like to inform you about the following:
I think that the persistence, with which the medical treatment in
Russia was denied, in the first place is motivated by the fear that
through careful examination it would be discovered, that there were
active, willful steps taken, to destroy my health, throughout the
proceedings of the trial, which could not be hidden from Russian
specialists.
In order to verify my allegations, I'm presenting you a simple example
which you can find in the attachment. This document, which I received
on March 7, shows that on January 12th (i.e. two months ago), an
extremely strong drug was found in my blood, which is used, as they
themselves say, for the treatment of tuberculosis and leprosy,
although I never used any kind of antibiotic during this 5 years that
I'm in their prison.
Throughout this whole period, neither have I had any kind of
infectious illness (apart from flu).
Also the fact that doctors needed 2 months (to report to me), can't
have any other explanation than we are facing manipulation. In any
case, those who foist on me a drug against leprosy surely can't treat
my illness; likewise those from which I defended my country in times
of war and who have an interest to silence me.
Dear Sirs, it is known to you that Russian physicians, who rank among
the most respected physicians in the world, came to the conclusion
that the examination and treatment of the vascular problems in my head
are inevitable and urgent. I know very well that this is true, as I
feel very bad.
I'm addressing you in expectation that you help me defend my health
from the criminal activities in this institution, working under the
sign of the U.N., and that I be enabled as soon as possible to get
adequate treatment in your hospital, in whose physicians, as well as
in Russia, I have absolute confidence.
Yours sincerely,
Slobodan Milosevic
=== 2 ===
English translation of the letter written by Slobodan Milosevic's widow,
Mira Markovic, and read out at his funeral in Pozarevac on March 18, 2006.
MIRA MARKOVIC'S LETTER:
Our anniversary was on March 14, our love was born on March 17, March
was our month and in March we are biding farewell.
We were constantly together ... You have spent five years in prison
and I have not seen you in three years. You returned home from The
Hague prison and I am not there with you. The criminals who murdered
you in The Hague want my life, and maybe the life of our children. You
were murdered by criminals who, by the achievement of our ideals, were
deprived of the privileges they won through other people's work.
You have returned home to stay here forever in this spot.
I am not here with you, at our home.
Every struggle against injustice will in the future be inspired by you.
I will continue where you stopped, I will love our children, our
country our home and I will fight for our ideals.
I was waiting for you for five long years, but I was not fortunate
enough to see you. Now you are waiting for me.
Love, Your Mira.
SOURCE:
http://cirqueminime.blogspot.com/2006/03/from-russia-with-love-and-farewell.html
=== 3 ===
Name
D R A Uges (FWN)
Department/Division
Analytische Biochemie,FWN
Postal Address
A Deusinglaan 1
9713AV Groningen
Phone Number
+31 50 361 4071
+31 50 361 4081
E-Mail Address
D.R.A.Uges@...
14th March 2006
Dear Professor Uges,
I feel compelled to write to you regarding comments which have been
attributed to you in the international media, including the media of
my country the Republic of Ireland, regarding your toxicology analysis
on the body of Mr. Slobodan Milosevic.
My apologies firstly for not writing in Dutch as I do not speak that
language, and also in case you may have been misquoted by the media.
The media reports I refer to claim that you stated that Mr. Milosevic
may have been deliberately taking a drug designed to treat
Tuberculosis and Leprosy in an attempt to counteract the drugs
prescribed to him to treat his high blood pressure and heart condition.
If these remarks have been accurately reported, then it is surely a
case that you have stepped far beyond your role as a forensic
toxicologist. As far as I understand you only examined, and were only
asked to examine a blood sample from President Milosevic. Your role
therefore was to find out what toxins, natural or otherwise, were in
his blood. How you could possibly ascertain how such toxins came to
be present in Mr. Milosevic's blood sample is clearly a different
matter. Have you suddenly become a detective instead of a toxicologist?
If you only examined Mr. Milosevic's blood sample then how can you
possibly state, with apparent certainty, that Mr. Milosevic
deliberately took an unprescribed medicine to make himself ill so that
he would stengthen his case to be transferred to Moscow for medical
treatment, and, presumably, abscond to that jurisdiction. It is
beyond belief that you could make such a statement as a respected
world renowned Professor of Analytical Biochemistry. How could you
know whether he took it deliberately or was given it without his
knowledge by mixing with prescribed drugs.
I must make it clear to you that your statement, whether it has been
reported accurately or otherwise, has been given prominent media
coverage around the world and is undoubtedly being used to give
credence to the claims of Mr. Milosevic's enemies and discredit the
claims of his lawyer and family, along with the Russian Foreign
Ministry, that Mr. Milosevic was being posioned. Your comments have
been used to paint him as a self-poisioner who would risk death to
feign illness and escape 'justice'.
Perhaps you have been cruelly misquoted by the international media, if
so you surely must clarify your position in order to retain an
untarnished reputation as a renowned medical toxicologist rather than
a biased medical professional using his position and straying into the
political arena to add another lie to the mountain of lies against Mr.
Milosevic.
Yours sincerely,
John Jefferies
Irish Section,
International Commitee for the Defence of Slobodan Milosevic
Co. Cork. Ireland.
www.icdsmireland.org
=== 4 ===
A cunning way to kill a man that needs no expertise
The Times (London) - March 14, 2006, Tuesday
By: Dr. Thomas Stuttaford
We have known for years that Milosevic had a bad heart, with
hypertensive heart disease associated with coronary heart disease and
myocardial ischemia. As a result, the blood supply to his heart was
inadequate and I'm surprised that he lived as long as he did.
He should have been considered for a coronary bypass or angioplasty
(unblocking of the arteries). The problem here is that if someone
suffers from severe heart disease, their heart may no longer be strong
enough to take a better arterial blood supply.
I have not heard of rifampicin being used to mask the effects of
another drug, but the mechanism by which drugs can interfere with one
another is known as the "grapefruit effect", because grapefruit
interferes with the metabolic pathways of many drugs. Imagine the
route that a drug takes into the body as a series of alleyways. When
one drug is taken to interfere with another, it is like sending a
lorry down a narrow highway, preventing other traffic from reaching
its destination.
In this case, rifampicin was apparently used to block the pathway for
heart medication. This would have built up behind, like traffic
building up on a congested road. With the drugs unable to reach the
liver, they would go round and round in the blood supply -building up
to dangerous levels and potentially causing terrific damage -but with
their effects entirely negated.
You don't have to be terribly skilled to establish which drugs
interfere with others. They are listed in a reference book called
Martindale's and any would be poisoner could have looked up the
pharmacology of the drugs that Milosevic was being prescribed and
discovered those that used the same pathways.
The interaction of drugs is a constant worry in medicine. I never
heard of anyone deliberately using this to poison a patient, but it is
unquestionably a cunning way of doing it.
=== 5 ===
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/agencija/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=1&NrArticle=18604&NrIssue=407&NrSection=30
MakFax (Macedonia)
March 14, 2006
Russian Duma set to call for termination of The Hague Tribunal
Moscow - The State Duma is to consider on Wednesday a
draft statement on the inexpedience of further work by
the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia,
State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said today.
"The State Duma is to consider a draft statement in
the wake of Slobodan Milosevic's death. The main idea
of the statement is to raise the issue of the
inexpedience of the tribunal's further work", Boris
Gryzlov told the press.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed
incredulity over findings of pathologists who
performed autopsy on Milosevic's body and in the
Tribunal as an institution, saying that if the
Tribunal was distrusting of Russian guarantees for
Milosevic's medical treatment, than Russia has every
right to be suspicious over Tribunal's activities.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=34043&style=headlines
Beta (Serbia and Montenegro)
March 14, 2006
Russian State Duma wants Hague shut down
Moscow – The Russian State Duma plans on adopting a
document that will call for the termination of the
Hague Tribunal.
Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said that the essence of
the document states that there are no real reasons to
support the further existence of the Tribunal, while a
majority of the Duma believes that in some way, the
Tribunal is directly or indirectly responsible for
Slobodan Milosevic's death this weekend.
As a member country of the United Nations Security
Council, Russia participated in voting for the
resolution which initiated the founding of the Hague
Tribunal.
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11479071
Interfax - March 15, 2006
State Duma calls for Yugoslavia tribunal to be disbanded
MOSCOW - The Russian State Duma has described the
activity of the International Criminal Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as over-politicized and
inappropriate and has called for its closure.
"The State Duma once again calls for all cases
currently being handled by the ICTY within the
framework of the so-called Completion Strategy
endorsed by the UN Security Council to be wrapped up
within the soonest possible period of time and
declares that further activity by the ICTY is
inappropriate," the State Duma said in a resolution
titled
"In connection with the death of former President
Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia," which was passed
unanimously on Wednesday.
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=4598344&PageNum=0
Itar-Tass - March 15, 2006
Duma deems Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia inexpedient
MOSCOW - The Russian State Duma approved on Wednesday
a statement on the death of former president of
Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic, noting that the further
functioning of the International Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia (ITFY) is inexpedient.
The MPs believe the tribunal "was unable to implement
the idea embedded in its foundation".
Moreover, the decisions, which the Tribunal had passed
during the entire period of its existence, are marked
by extreme politization and partiality," the State
Duma holds. "Dual standards grew to be a norm of its
entire work," the statement notes.
The parliamentarians "reiterate the need of shortly
completing the investigation of all the cases now on
the agenda of the Tribunal", the document says.
They note the absolutely impermissible "facts,
testifying to the extremely gross violation of human
rights in the ITFY Hague prison, which found
expression, in particular, in the refusal to render
qualified medical aid to Slobodan Milosevic, who was
badly in need of it".
Hence, on the motion of Viktor Kuznetsov, a member of
the Communist party faction, the word "completing" was
replaced in the document by that of "discontinuing".
Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov seconded the motion and the
State Duma voted for this amendment.
Hence, the final text of the statement calls for
discontinuing all the Tribunal investigations.
The authors of the document recall that the State Duma
had repeatedly expressed its anxiety about Milosevic's
health and had called on the Tribunal to suspend the
trial of the ex-president of Yugoslavia.
"The Tribunal ignored its appeals, thereby assuming
the entire responsibility for the life of the
defendant," the document stresses.
At the same time, the State Duma believes the Tribunal
should "create all the necessary conditions for an
independent international investigation of the reasons
and circumstances of Milosevic's death".
"Those guilty of his death, either due to negligence
or evil design, must be named and brought to trial,"
the MPs are convinced.
The Duma has also expressed sincere condolences to
Milosevic's relatives and close ones.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060315/44334700.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
March 15, 2006
Hague Tribunal now redundant - Russian parliament
MOSCOW - Russia's lower house of parliament said
Wednesday that the International Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia had no further use.
Russian lawmakers approved a statement following the
death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic,
found in his cell at The Hague March 11. Milosevic had
been on trial on charges of genocide and war crimes.
"[The Tribunal] failed to realize the ideas behind its
foundation," the statement said.
"Resolutions adopted by the tribunal during its
existence are highly politicized and biased. Double
standards have become the norm in [the tribunal's]
work," it said.
The statement said that the human rights of those on
trial had been severely infringed, which lawmakers
said was "utterly unacceptable".
"The death of Milosevic is not the first case in which
a former Yugoslav leader has died while in prison,"
the statement said.
Milan Babic, former leader of Serbs in Croatia and
also in custody in The Hague, died in prison a few
days before Milosevic.
The lawmakers also demanded that all cases at the
tribunal be wound up.
State Duma takes on the Hague tribunal
RusData Dialine (Russian Press Digest) Gazeta, No 45, p.3 - March 16,
2006 Thursday
Copyright 2006 Russica Izvestia Information Inc.
Russian lawmakers called for closure of the International Criminal
Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia
The lower house of the Russian parliament harshly criticized the UN
War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague Wednesday, blaming it for Slobodan
Milosevic's death and calling for its quick closure.
The State Duma voted unanimously to approve a statement that accused
the tribunal of being "extremely politicized and biased" in its
inquiries and said that its failure to provide Milosevic with adequate
medical care led to the former Yugoslav president's death on Saturday.
"Russia had been ready to accept Slobodan Milosevic for treatment and
provide the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia with the
guarantees of his return to The Hague, but the tribunal had ignored
these appeals, undertaking full responsibility for Milosevic's life,"
the lower house said.
It said the tribunal's failure to provide qualified medical care to
Milosevic amounted to "flagrant violation of human rights." The
statement adopted by the lower house called for a quick end of the
tribunal's inquiries and said that its "further activities will be
unfeasible."
Milosevic was arrested in 2001 and put on trial in February 2002 on 66
counts for war crimes and genocide in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo
during Yugoslavia's violent break-up in the 1990s. He was the first
sitting head of state indicted for war crimes. He was the sixth war
crimes suspect from the Balkans to die at The Hague.
A week earlier, convicted former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic, a
star prosecution witness against Milosevic, killed himself in the same
prison. The Russian parliament alluded to the deaths, saying that
"such a tragic chain of events is in clear discord with European calls
for observing human rights."
During the Wednesday debates, some MPs angrily recalled the Western
criticism of Russia's rights record, saying that Milosevic's death
shows the West doesn't have the moral right to judge Russia. "We must
immediately end all European Union inspections of Russian prison
facilities," said nationalist MP Sergei Abeltsev.
=== 6 ===
Milosevic believed was being poisoned in ICTY – witness
Tanjug - March 15, 2006
BELGRADE, Mar 15 (Tanjug) - Former Montenegrin president and prime
minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Momir Bulatovic said
Wednesday that the late Yugoslav and Serbian president Slobodan
Milosevic was deeply convinced that he was being poisoned in the
detention unit of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia, as he was not taking the cited controversial drug
Rifanpicin, traces of which were found in his blood.
Bulatovic, who spent the last three days of Milosevic's life with him,
told a press conference that Milosevic had received the results of his
blood tests only two months after the tests were done.
Proof of all suspicions lies in the ICTY failure to act, and ICTY
officials did nothing, although traces of the drug were found in
Milosevic's blood already on January 12. Regardless of the way the
drug was administered, ICTY officials should have reacted to the test
results, but their only reaction was to conceal them, Bulatovic said.
Bulatovic, who was due to testify for the defense in the Milosevic
trial, spent six hours daily for three days with Milosevic - from
March 8 to 10 - and said that he felt very concerned for Milosevic's
health.
Bulatovic said that although he is not a medical expert, it was clear
to him that conditions in the ICTY detention unit and medical
assistance provided to MIlosevic were endangering the latter's health.
On March 8, Milosevic visibly could hardly stay awake and complained
of pain in his kidneys, he said.
The next day, Bulatovic said that he found Milosevic reading the
results of his latest health tests of January 12, which he received
two months late, which gave grounds to suspect that things were not
going well.
Bulatovic added that MIlosevic showed him the test results and spoke
particularly of Rifanpicin, which is a powerful antibiotic used for
treating leprosy and tuberculosis, and that this was the first time he
claimed he was being poisoned and that the drug was being administered
to him secretly in order to counteract the threrapy he was receiving
for his blood pressure.
Bulatovic noted that on March 9, about 11:30 am, Milosevic conferred
with Gillian Higgins, assistant to defense counsel Stephen Kay whom
ICTY imposed on Milosevic, and conveyed to her his suspicions, stating
repeatedly that he was not secretly taking the drug which would
seriously endanger his health.
It was impossible for Milosevic to secretly take the drug himself in
order to obtain temporary release for medical treatment in Moscow,
Bulatovic said.
On March 10, about 4 pm, Milosevic was so tired that he asked for a
break in working on his defense, and expressed his conviction that the
testimony Bulatovic was to give was major evidence of his innocence,
Bulatovic said.
Milosevic asked to have the weekend off from preparing the testimony
in order to rest, but he died that same night, Bulatovic said, adding
that Milosevic would be alive today had he been allowed to go to any
hospital for treatment.
=== 7 ===
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060318/44508467.html
Zyuganov calls Hague Tribunal 'criminal' at Belgrade ceremony
18/03/2006 17:49
BELGRADE, March 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Communist Party leader
described the Hague Tribunal as criminal at a public rally Saturday.
Addressing a farewell ceremony on Belgrade's square near the
parliament to pay last respects to former Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic, Gennady Zyuganov said the Hague Tribunal was a "criminal
court."
Speaking at the same ceremony, Konstantin Zatulin, a member of the
lower house of the Russian parliament, said "Milosevic's death is a
murder."
Milosevic, 64, was found dead in his prison cell March 11. Preliminary
reports suggest he died of a heart attack. The former Yugoslav
president was on trial at the International Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia on charges of war crimes and genocide.
The International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia refused to grant
Milosevic temporary release from detention to travel to Russia, saying
there were insufficient guarantees that he would return for his trial,
and that there was no evidence to prove he could not be given adequate
medical care without leaving the Netherlands.
=== 8 ===
Russia requests UN info on Hague Tribunal prisoners conditions
ITAR-TASS News Agency - March 21, 2006, Tuesday 08:49 PM EST
By: Vladimir Kikilo
UNITED NATIONS, March 22 - Russia has requested from the United
Nations Secretariat information about the conditions of keeping
inmates in the pre-trial detention centre of the International war
crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Itar-Tass learnt
at the Russian permanent mission to the UN that Russia has also
requested information about the progress of internal investigation of
the circumstances and causes of recent death in the Hague prison of
former President of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic.
The inquiry has been made in connection with several recent deaths of
persons accused by the Hague Tribunal. Former leader of Croatian Serbs
Milan Babic, 50, was found dead in his cell on March 6. According to
the Dutch authorities, Babic committed suicide.
Another leader of Croatian Serbs Slavko Dokmanovic also committed
suicide in 1998 and former mayor of Prijedor Milan Kovacevic also died
of aortic rupture in the prison in August of the same year. According
to statements of his relatives, Kovacevic died because he was refused
emergency medical aid.
A total of 11 people accused by the International war crimes tribunal
for former Yugoslavia in The Hague have died since April 1997, and
four of them - before their extradition to the tribunal.
=== 9 ===
MILOSEVIC LAWYERS WANT MEDICAL RECORDS UNSEALED
The defence lawyers assigned to the late ex-Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic have asked judges to released records of medical
treatment he received in The Hague, and of his bid to obtain temporary
release prior to his death earlier this month.
Milosevic wanted to travel to Russia for medical treatment, but the
request was denied by the judges hearing his case. Lawyers Steven Kay
and Gillian Higgins argue that it was Milosevic's own desire that the
records in question should be made public. Following the death of the
accused, they added, his son, Marko Milosevic, expressed the same
wish. The documents in question apparently include "documents,
filings, medical reports, conclusions, internal memoranda and
treatment plans". The hope, Kay and Higgins said, was that the
documents would " ensure that there is a comprehensive and open
understanding" of the events leading up to Milosevic's death.
Marko Milosevic has publicly accused the Hague tribunal of
responsibility for his father's death, which was apparently caused by
a heart attack. After Milosevic died, it was revealed that he had
written to the Russian authorities expressing concerns that he was
being poisoned. Tests on a sample of Milosevic's blood earlier this
year revealed the presence of a drug called rifampicin, which is known
to counteract drugs he was prescribed for his high blood pressure. (...)
IWPR'S TRIBUNAL UPDATE No. 445, March 24, 2006
=== 10 ===
Pro-Milosevic Serbian lawmakers hold minute of silence for late leader
Associated Press Worldstream - March 27, 2006 Monday; 11:42 AM GMT
BELGRADE Serbia-Montenegro - Lawmakers loyal to the late Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic held a minute of silence on Monday, which
was boycotted by deputies from other parties in parliament.
Representatives from the Socialist Party, formerly led by Milosevic,
and the allied Serbian Radical Party 104 of them altogether stood in
silence, as they paid their respects the ex-Yugoslav leader, who died
earlier this month while in detention of the U.N. war crimes tribunal.
The Serbian parliament has 250 deputies from several major Serbian
parties. The deputies from Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's
Democratic Party of Serbia remained in their seats during the silence,
while the remaining lawmakers boycotted the session.
"This was organized for those who wanted to pay their respects to
Milosevic," said Zoran Andjelkovic, a top Socialists official. "We did
not want to make a show of it."
==========================
IN DIFESA DELLA JUGOSLAVIA
Il j'accuse di Slobodan Milosevic
di fronte al "Tribunale ad hoc" dell'Aia"
(Ed. Zambon 2005, 10 euro)
Tutte le informazioni sul libro, appena uscito, alle pagine:
http://www.pasti.org/autodif.html
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/icdsm-italia/message/204
==========================
ICDSM - Sezione Italiana
c/o GAMADI, Via L. Da Vinci 27 -- 00043 Ciampino (Roma)
tel/fax +39-06-7915200 -- email: icdsm-italia @ libero.it
http://www.pasti.org/linkmilo.html
*** Conto Corrente Postale numero 86557006, intestato ad
Adolfo Amoroso, ROMA, causale: DIFESA MILOSEVIC ***
LE TRASCRIZIONI "UFFICIALI" DEL "PROCESSO" SI TROVANO AI SITI:
http://www.un.org/icty/transe54/transe54.htm (IN ENGLISH)
http://www.un.org/icty/transf54/transf54.htm (EN FRANCAIS)
Subject: [icdsm-italia] The murder of Milosevic: more texts
Date: March 30, 2006 8:15:02 PM GMT+02:00
To: icdsm-italia @yahoogroups.com
The murder of Milosevic: more texts
1. TEXT OF SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC'S LETTER TO THE RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MARCH 8th
2. TEXT OF MIRA MARKOVIC'S LETTER, READ IN POZAREVAC ON MARCH 18th
3. ICDSM-Irland's Jefferies letter to doctor Uges, March 14th
4. Letter of Dr. T. Stuttaford to The Times, March 14th
5. RUSSIAN DUMA UNANIMOUSLY CALLS FOR TERMINATION OF "TRIBUNAL", March
14th-15th
6. Momir Bulatovic: Milosevic believed was being poisoned in ICTY
(March 15th)
7. Zyuganov calls Hague Tribunal 'criminal' at Belgrade ceremony
(March 18th)
8. Russia requests UN info on Hague Tribunal prisoners conditions
(March 21st)
9. Milosevic lawyers want medical records unsealed (March 24th)
10. Pro-Milosevic Serbian lawmakers hold minute of silence for late
leader (March 27)
MORE LINKS:
Upisite se u knjigu zalosti / Book of condolences:
http://www.slobodanmilosevic.info/
Photos of the funeral:
http://www.icdsmireland.org
http://www.slobodan.info
http://www.b92.net/info/galerija/index.php?nav_category=99
(see the days from 16 to 19 of March)
Una galleria, con commenti in italiano, è stata realizzata da SOS
Yugoslavia di Torino e si trova alle pagine:
http://www.resistenze.org/sito/te/po/se/pose6c19.htm
http://www.resistenze.org/sito/te/po/se/pose6c19a.htm
http://www.resistenze.org/sito/te/po/se/pose6c19b.htm
=== 1 ===
TEXT OF SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC'S LETTER TO THE RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN
AFFAIRS
The text of a handwritten letter dated March 8, 2006, written by
Slobodan Milosevic to Russia asking for its help. It was provided in
an English translation by his lawyer Zdenko Tomanovic:
To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation:
Dear ladies and gentlemen,
With my acknowledgment for the solidarity and understanding which you
expressed by accepting to receive me to come for medical treatment and
by giving guarantees, I would like to inform you about the following:
I think that the persistence, with which the medical treatment in
Russia was denied, in the first place is motivated by the fear that
through careful examination it would be discovered, that there were
active, willful steps taken, to destroy my health, throughout the
proceedings of the trial, which could not be hidden from Russian
specialists.
In order to verify my allegations, I'm presenting you a simple example
which you can find in the attachment. This document, which I received
on March 7, shows that on January 12th (i.e. two months ago), an
extremely strong drug was found in my blood, which is used, as they
themselves say, for the treatment of tuberculosis and leprosy,
although I never used any kind of antibiotic during this 5 years that
I'm in their prison.
Throughout this whole period, neither have I had any kind of
infectious illness (apart from flu).
Also the fact that doctors needed 2 months (to report to me), can't
have any other explanation than we are facing manipulation. In any
case, those who foist on me a drug against leprosy surely can't treat
my illness; likewise those from which I defended my country in times
of war and who have an interest to silence me.
Dear Sirs, it is known to you that Russian physicians, who rank among
the most respected physicians in the world, came to the conclusion
that the examination and treatment of the vascular problems in my head
are inevitable and urgent. I know very well that this is true, as I
feel very bad.
I'm addressing you in expectation that you help me defend my health
from the criminal activities in this institution, working under the
sign of the U.N., and that I be enabled as soon as possible to get
adequate treatment in your hospital, in whose physicians, as well as
in Russia, I have absolute confidence.
Yours sincerely,
Slobodan Milosevic
=== 2 ===
English translation of the letter written by Slobodan Milosevic's widow,
Mira Markovic, and read out at his funeral in Pozarevac on March 18, 2006.
MIRA MARKOVIC'S LETTER:
Our anniversary was on March 14, our love was born on March 17, March
was our month and in March we are biding farewell.
We were constantly together ... You have spent five years in prison
and I have not seen you in three years. You returned home from The
Hague prison and I am not there with you. The criminals who murdered
you in The Hague want my life, and maybe the life of our children. You
were murdered by criminals who, by the achievement of our ideals, were
deprived of the privileges they won through other people's work.
You have returned home to stay here forever in this spot.
I am not here with you, at our home.
Every struggle against injustice will in the future be inspired by you.
I will continue where you stopped, I will love our children, our
country our home and I will fight for our ideals.
I was waiting for you for five long years, but I was not fortunate
enough to see you. Now you are waiting for me.
Love, Your Mira.
SOURCE:
http://cirqueminime.blogspot.com/2006/03/from-russia-with-love-and-farewell.html
=== 3 ===
Name
D R A Uges (FWN)
Department/Division
Analytische Biochemie,FWN
Postal Address
A Deusinglaan 1
9713AV Groningen
Phone Number
+31 50 361 4071
+31 50 361 4081
E-Mail Address
D.R.A.Uges@...
14th March 2006
Dear Professor Uges,
I feel compelled to write to you regarding comments which have been
attributed to you in the international media, including the media of
my country the Republic of Ireland, regarding your toxicology analysis
on the body of Mr. Slobodan Milosevic.
My apologies firstly for not writing in Dutch as I do not speak that
language, and also in case you may have been misquoted by the media.
The media reports I refer to claim that you stated that Mr. Milosevic
may have been deliberately taking a drug designed to treat
Tuberculosis and Leprosy in an attempt to counteract the drugs
prescribed to him to treat his high blood pressure and heart condition.
If these remarks have been accurately reported, then it is surely a
case that you have stepped far beyond your role as a forensic
toxicologist. As far as I understand you only examined, and were only
asked to examine a blood sample from President Milosevic. Your role
therefore was to find out what toxins, natural or otherwise, were in
his blood. How you could possibly ascertain how such toxins came to
be present in Mr. Milosevic's blood sample is clearly a different
matter. Have you suddenly become a detective instead of a toxicologist?
If you only examined Mr. Milosevic's blood sample then how can you
possibly state, with apparent certainty, that Mr. Milosevic
deliberately took an unprescribed medicine to make himself ill so that
he would stengthen his case to be transferred to Moscow for medical
treatment, and, presumably, abscond to that jurisdiction. It is
beyond belief that you could make such a statement as a respected
world renowned Professor of Analytical Biochemistry. How could you
know whether he took it deliberately or was given it without his
knowledge by mixing with prescribed drugs.
I must make it clear to you that your statement, whether it has been
reported accurately or otherwise, has been given prominent media
coverage around the world and is undoubtedly being used to give
credence to the claims of Mr. Milosevic's enemies and discredit the
claims of his lawyer and family, along with the Russian Foreign
Ministry, that Mr. Milosevic was being posioned. Your comments have
been used to paint him as a self-poisioner who would risk death to
feign illness and escape 'justice'.
Perhaps you have been cruelly misquoted by the international media, if
so you surely must clarify your position in order to retain an
untarnished reputation as a renowned medical toxicologist rather than
a biased medical professional using his position and straying into the
political arena to add another lie to the mountain of lies against Mr.
Milosevic.
Yours sincerely,
John Jefferies
Irish Section,
International Commitee for the Defence of Slobodan Milosevic
Co. Cork. Ireland.
www.icdsmireland.org
=== 4 ===
A cunning way to kill a man that needs no expertise
The Times (London) - March 14, 2006, Tuesday
By: Dr. Thomas Stuttaford
We have known for years that Milosevic had a bad heart, with
hypertensive heart disease associated with coronary heart disease and
myocardial ischemia. As a result, the blood supply to his heart was
inadequate and I'm surprised that he lived as long as he did.
He should have been considered for a coronary bypass or angioplasty
(unblocking of the arteries). The problem here is that if someone
suffers from severe heart disease, their heart may no longer be strong
enough to take a better arterial blood supply.
I have not heard of rifampicin being used to mask the effects of
another drug, but the mechanism by which drugs can interfere with one
another is known as the "grapefruit effect", because grapefruit
interferes with the metabolic pathways of many drugs. Imagine the
route that a drug takes into the body as a series of alleyways. When
one drug is taken to interfere with another, it is like sending a
lorry down a narrow highway, preventing other traffic from reaching
its destination.
In this case, rifampicin was apparently used to block the pathway for
heart medication. This would have built up behind, like traffic
building up on a congested road. With the drugs unable to reach the
liver, they would go round and round in the blood supply -building up
to dangerous levels and potentially causing terrific damage -but with
their effects entirely negated.
You don't have to be terribly skilled to establish which drugs
interfere with others. They are listed in a reference book called
Martindale's and any would be poisoner could have looked up the
pharmacology of the drugs that Milosevic was being prescribed and
discovered those that used the same pathways.
The interaction of drugs is a constant worry in medicine. I never
heard of anyone deliberately using this to poison a patient, but it is
unquestionably a cunning way of doing it.
=== 5 ===
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/agencija/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=1&NrArticle=18604&NrIssue=407&NrSection=30
MakFax (Macedonia)
March 14, 2006
Russian Duma set to call for termination of The Hague Tribunal
Moscow - The State Duma is to consider on Wednesday a
draft statement on the inexpedience of further work by
the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia,
State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said today.
"The State Duma is to consider a draft statement in
the wake of Slobodan Milosevic's death. The main idea
of the statement is to raise the issue of the
inexpedience of the tribunal's further work", Boris
Gryzlov told the press.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed
incredulity over findings of pathologists who
performed autopsy on Milosevic's body and in the
Tribunal as an institution, saying that if the
Tribunal was distrusting of Russian guarantees for
Milosevic's medical treatment, than Russia has every
right to be suspicious over Tribunal's activities.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=34043&style=headlines
Beta (Serbia and Montenegro)
March 14, 2006
Russian State Duma wants Hague shut down
Moscow – The Russian State Duma plans on adopting a
document that will call for the termination of the
Hague Tribunal.
Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said that the essence of
the document states that there are no real reasons to
support the further existence of the Tribunal, while a
majority of the Duma believes that in some way, the
Tribunal is directly or indirectly responsible for
Slobodan Milosevic's death this weekend.
As a member country of the United Nations Security
Council, Russia participated in voting for the
resolution which initiated the founding of the Hague
Tribunal.
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11479071
Interfax - March 15, 2006
State Duma calls for Yugoslavia tribunal to be disbanded
MOSCOW - The Russian State Duma has described the
activity of the International Criminal Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as over-politicized and
inappropriate and has called for its closure.
"The State Duma once again calls for all cases
currently being handled by the ICTY within the
framework of the so-called Completion Strategy
endorsed by the UN Security Council to be wrapped up
within the soonest possible period of time and
declares that further activity by the ICTY is
inappropriate," the State Duma said in a resolution
titled
"In connection with the death of former President
Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia," which was passed
unanimously on Wednesday.
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=4598344&PageNum=0
Itar-Tass - March 15, 2006
Duma deems Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia inexpedient
MOSCOW - The Russian State Duma approved on Wednesday
a statement on the death of former president of
Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic, noting that the further
functioning of the International Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia (ITFY) is inexpedient.
The MPs believe the tribunal "was unable to implement
the idea embedded in its foundation".
Moreover, the decisions, which the Tribunal had passed
during the entire period of its existence, are marked
by extreme politization and partiality," the State
Duma holds. "Dual standards grew to be a norm of its
entire work," the statement notes.
The parliamentarians "reiterate the need of shortly
completing the investigation of all the cases now on
the agenda of the Tribunal", the document says.
They note the absolutely impermissible "facts,
testifying to the extremely gross violation of human
rights in the ITFY Hague prison, which found
expression, in particular, in the refusal to render
qualified medical aid to Slobodan Milosevic, who was
badly in need of it".
Hence, on the motion of Viktor Kuznetsov, a member of
the Communist party faction, the word "completing" was
replaced in the document by that of "discontinuing".
Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov seconded the motion and the
State Duma voted for this amendment.
Hence, the final text of the statement calls for
discontinuing all the Tribunal investigations.
The authors of the document recall that the State Duma
had repeatedly expressed its anxiety about Milosevic's
health and had called on the Tribunal to suspend the
trial of the ex-president of Yugoslavia.
"The Tribunal ignored its appeals, thereby assuming
the entire responsibility for the life of the
defendant," the document stresses.
At the same time, the State Duma believes the Tribunal
should "create all the necessary conditions for an
independent international investigation of the reasons
and circumstances of Milosevic's death".
"Those guilty of his death, either due to negligence
or evil design, must be named and brought to trial,"
the MPs are convinced.
The Duma has also expressed sincere condolences to
Milosevic's relatives and close ones.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060315/44334700.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
March 15, 2006
Hague Tribunal now redundant - Russian parliament
MOSCOW - Russia's lower house of parliament said
Wednesday that the International Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia had no further use.
Russian lawmakers approved a statement following the
death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic,
found in his cell at The Hague March 11. Milosevic had
been on trial on charges of genocide and war crimes.
"[The Tribunal] failed to realize the ideas behind its
foundation," the statement said.
"Resolutions adopted by the tribunal during its
existence are highly politicized and biased. Double
standards have become the norm in [the tribunal's]
work," it said.
The statement said that the human rights of those on
trial had been severely infringed, which lawmakers
said was "utterly unacceptable".
"The death of Milosevic is not the first case in which
a former Yugoslav leader has died while in prison,"
the statement said.
Milan Babic, former leader of Serbs in Croatia and
also in custody in The Hague, died in prison a few
days before Milosevic.
The lawmakers also demanded that all cases at the
tribunal be wound up.
State Duma takes on the Hague tribunal
RusData Dialine (Russian Press Digest) Gazeta, No 45, p.3 - March 16,
2006 Thursday
Copyright 2006 Russica Izvestia Information Inc.
Russian lawmakers called for closure of the International Criminal
Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia
The lower house of the Russian parliament harshly criticized the UN
War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague Wednesday, blaming it for Slobodan
Milosevic's death and calling for its quick closure.
The State Duma voted unanimously to approve a statement that accused
the tribunal of being "extremely politicized and biased" in its
inquiries and said that its failure to provide Milosevic with adequate
medical care led to the former Yugoslav president's death on Saturday.
"Russia had been ready to accept Slobodan Milosevic for treatment and
provide the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia with the
guarantees of his return to The Hague, but the tribunal had ignored
these appeals, undertaking full responsibility for Milosevic's life,"
the lower house said.
It said the tribunal's failure to provide qualified medical care to
Milosevic amounted to "flagrant violation of human rights." The
statement adopted by the lower house called for a quick end of the
tribunal's inquiries and said that its "further activities will be
unfeasible."
Milosevic was arrested in 2001 and put on trial in February 2002 on 66
counts for war crimes and genocide in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo
during Yugoslavia's violent break-up in the 1990s. He was the first
sitting head of state indicted for war crimes. He was the sixth war
crimes suspect from the Balkans to die at The Hague.
A week earlier, convicted former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic, a
star prosecution witness against Milosevic, killed himself in the same
prison. The Russian parliament alluded to the deaths, saying that
"such a tragic chain of events is in clear discord with European calls
for observing human rights."
During the Wednesday debates, some MPs angrily recalled the Western
criticism of Russia's rights record, saying that Milosevic's death
shows the West doesn't have the moral right to judge Russia. "We must
immediately end all European Union inspections of Russian prison
facilities," said nationalist MP Sergei Abeltsev.
=== 6 ===
Milosevic believed was being poisoned in ICTY – witness
Tanjug - March 15, 2006
BELGRADE, Mar 15 (Tanjug) - Former Montenegrin president and prime
minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Momir Bulatovic said
Wednesday that the late Yugoslav and Serbian president Slobodan
Milosevic was deeply convinced that he was being poisoned in the
detention unit of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia, as he was not taking the cited controversial drug
Rifanpicin, traces of which were found in his blood.
Bulatovic, who spent the last three days of Milosevic's life with him,
told a press conference that Milosevic had received the results of his
blood tests only two months after the tests were done.
Proof of all suspicions lies in the ICTY failure to act, and ICTY
officials did nothing, although traces of the drug were found in
Milosevic's blood already on January 12. Regardless of the way the
drug was administered, ICTY officials should have reacted to the test
results, but their only reaction was to conceal them, Bulatovic said.
Bulatovic, who was due to testify for the defense in the Milosevic
trial, spent six hours daily for three days with Milosevic - from
March 8 to 10 - and said that he felt very concerned for Milosevic's
health.
Bulatovic said that although he is not a medical expert, it was clear
to him that conditions in the ICTY detention unit and medical
assistance provided to MIlosevic were endangering the latter's health.
On March 8, Milosevic visibly could hardly stay awake and complained
of pain in his kidneys, he said.
The next day, Bulatovic said that he found Milosevic reading the
results of his latest health tests of January 12, which he received
two months late, which gave grounds to suspect that things were not
going well.
Bulatovic added that MIlosevic showed him the test results and spoke
particularly of Rifanpicin, which is a powerful antibiotic used for
treating leprosy and tuberculosis, and that this was the first time he
claimed he was being poisoned and that the drug was being administered
to him secretly in order to counteract the threrapy he was receiving
for his blood pressure.
Bulatovic noted that on March 9, about 11:30 am, Milosevic conferred
with Gillian Higgins, assistant to defense counsel Stephen Kay whom
ICTY imposed on Milosevic, and conveyed to her his suspicions, stating
repeatedly that he was not secretly taking the drug which would
seriously endanger his health.
It was impossible for Milosevic to secretly take the drug himself in
order to obtain temporary release for medical treatment in Moscow,
Bulatovic said.
On March 10, about 4 pm, Milosevic was so tired that he asked for a
break in working on his defense, and expressed his conviction that the
testimony Bulatovic was to give was major evidence of his innocence,
Bulatovic said.
Milosevic asked to have the weekend off from preparing the testimony
in order to rest, but he died that same night, Bulatovic said, adding
that Milosevic would be alive today had he been allowed to go to any
hospital for treatment.
=== 7 ===
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060318/44508467.html
Zyuganov calls Hague Tribunal 'criminal' at Belgrade ceremony
18/03/2006 17:49
BELGRADE, March 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Communist Party leader
described the Hague Tribunal as criminal at a public rally Saturday.
Addressing a farewell ceremony on Belgrade's square near the
parliament to pay last respects to former Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic, Gennady Zyuganov said the Hague Tribunal was a "criminal
court."
Speaking at the same ceremony, Konstantin Zatulin, a member of the
lower house of the Russian parliament, said "Milosevic's death is a
murder."
Milosevic, 64, was found dead in his prison cell March 11. Preliminary
reports suggest he died of a heart attack. The former Yugoslav
president was on trial at the International Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia on charges of war crimes and genocide.
The International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia refused to grant
Milosevic temporary release from detention to travel to Russia, saying
there were insufficient guarantees that he would return for his trial,
and that there was no evidence to prove he could not be given adequate
medical care without leaving the Netherlands.
=== 8 ===
Russia requests UN info on Hague Tribunal prisoners conditions
ITAR-TASS News Agency - March 21, 2006, Tuesday 08:49 PM EST
By: Vladimir Kikilo
UNITED NATIONS, March 22 - Russia has requested from the United
Nations Secretariat information about the conditions of keeping
inmates in the pre-trial detention centre of the International war
crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Itar-Tass learnt
at the Russian permanent mission to the UN that Russia has also
requested information about the progress of internal investigation of
the circumstances and causes of recent death in the Hague prison of
former President of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic.
The inquiry has been made in connection with several recent deaths of
persons accused by the Hague Tribunal. Former leader of Croatian Serbs
Milan Babic, 50, was found dead in his cell on March 6. According to
the Dutch authorities, Babic committed suicide.
Another leader of Croatian Serbs Slavko Dokmanovic also committed
suicide in 1998 and former mayor of Prijedor Milan Kovacevic also died
of aortic rupture in the prison in August of the same year. According
to statements of his relatives, Kovacevic died because he was refused
emergency medical aid.
A total of 11 people accused by the International war crimes tribunal
for former Yugoslavia in The Hague have died since April 1997, and
four of them - before their extradition to the tribunal.
=== 9 ===
MILOSEVIC LAWYERS WANT MEDICAL RECORDS UNSEALED
The defence lawyers assigned to the late ex-Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic have asked judges to released records of medical
treatment he received in The Hague, and of his bid to obtain temporary
release prior to his death earlier this month.
Milosevic wanted to travel to Russia for medical treatment, but the
request was denied by the judges hearing his case. Lawyers Steven Kay
and Gillian Higgins argue that it was Milosevic's own desire that the
records in question should be made public. Following the death of the
accused, they added, his son, Marko Milosevic, expressed the same
wish. The documents in question apparently include "documents,
filings, medical reports, conclusions, internal memoranda and
treatment plans". The hope, Kay and Higgins said, was that the
documents would " ensure that there is a comprehensive and open
understanding" of the events leading up to Milosevic's death.
Marko Milosevic has publicly accused the Hague tribunal of
responsibility for his father's death, which was apparently caused by
a heart attack. After Milosevic died, it was revealed that he had
written to the Russian authorities expressing concerns that he was
being poisoned. Tests on a sample of Milosevic's blood earlier this
year revealed the presence of a drug called rifampicin, which is known
to counteract drugs he was prescribed for his high blood pressure. (...)
IWPR'S TRIBUNAL UPDATE No. 445, March 24, 2006
=== 10 ===
Pro-Milosevic Serbian lawmakers hold minute of silence for late leader
Associated Press Worldstream - March 27, 2006 Monday; 11:42 AM GMT
BELGRADE Serbia-Montenegro - Lawmakers loyal to the late Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic held a minute of silence on Monday, which
was boycotted by deputies from other parties in parliament.
Representatives from the Socialist Party, formerly led by Milosevic,
and the allied Serbian Radical Party 104 of them altogether stood in
silence, as they paid their respects the ex-Yugoslav leader, who died
earlier this month while in detention of the U.N. war crimes tribunal.
The Serbian parliament has 250 deputies from several major Serbian
parties. The deputies from Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's
Democratic Party of Serbia remained in their seats during the silence,
while the remaining lawmakers boycotted the session.
"This was organized for those who wanted to pay their respects to
Milosevic," said Zoran Andjelkovic, a top Socialists official. "We did
not want to make a show of it."
==========================
IN DIFESA DELLA JUGOSLAVIA
Il j'accuse di Slobodan Milosevic
di fronte al "Tribunale ad hoc" dell'Aia"
(Ed. Zambon 2005, 10 euro)
Tutte le informazioni sul libro, appena uscito, alle pagine:
http://www.pasti.org/autodif.html
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/icdsm-italia/message/204
==========================
ICDSM - Sezione Italiana
c/o GAMADI, Via L. Da Vinci 27 -- 00043 Ciampino (Roma)
tel/fax +39-06-7915200 -- email: icdsm-italia @ libero.it
http://www.pasti.org/linkmilo.html
*** Conto Corrente Postale numero 86557006, intestato ad
Adolfo Amoroso, ROMA, causale: DIFESA MILOSEVIC ***
LE TRASCRIZIONI "UFFICIALI" DEL "PROCESSO" SI TROVANO AI SITI:
http://www.un.org/icty/transe54/transe54.htm (IN ENGLISH)
http://www.un.org/icty/transf54/transf54.htm (EN FRANCAIS)