THE HAGUE. Results of a toxicological examination following the death of former President of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic do not indicate that he was poisoned. This follows from the provisional findings concerning the death of S. Milosevic issued by The Hague District Public Prosecutor’s Office, which were published by the International Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia on 17 March. The toxicological investigation was carried out by the Dutch Forensic Institute.

The former president of Yugoslavia Milosevic was found dead in his cell in the UN detention center of the Tribunal in The Hague, where he stood trial. He was accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo between 1991 and 1999.

On 12 March an autopsy of Slobodan Milosevic's body was performed by Dutch forensic pathologists in The Hague. ‘According to the pathologists, Slobodan Milosevic’s cause of death was a myocardial infarction,’ court officials declared on that day. Supporters of Milosevic had said earlier that week that he was poisoned.

In a statement about the results of the toxicological investigation on 17 March, the President of the Tribunal, Judge Fausto Polar, also announced an external investigation into the running of the UN detention center in The Hague.

SOURCES:

The statement of the President of the International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia has been published on: http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2006/p1056-e.htm

The Provisional findings concerning the death of S. Milosevic issued by The Hague District Public Prosecutor’s Office can be downloaded at: http://www.un.org/icty/milosevic/report-english.htm