Milosevic said was drugged, asked for help-lawyer
THE HAGUE, March 12 (Reuters) - Slobodan Milosevic wrote to Russia asking for help just a day before his death, saying he had been given the wrong drugs in an attempt to silence him, his lawyer said on Sunday.
Lawyer Zdenko Tomanovic showed a copy of Milosevic's handwritten letter to journalists at the U.N. tribunal, and said the former Yugoslav president had addressed it to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday.
"I am writing to you and asking you for help in the protecting from the criminal activities being perpetrated in the institution operating under the sign of the United Nations organisation," Tomanovic said, reading from Milosevic's letter.
Russia was a close ally of the former Yugoslavia and Milosevic's wife and brother live in the country.
"At the moment we have no information about that letter. We did not receive it," Interfax news agency quoted Mikhail Kamynin, spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, as saying.
In the letter, Milosevic wrote that he had two days earlier received a document confirming that in January a strong drug had been found in his blood which is only used to treat leprosy and tuberculosis, Tomanovic said.
The 64-year-old former president suffered from high blood pressure, heart problems and frequent bouts of flu.
Cardiologists treating Milosevic in The Hague had warned he was at risk of a life-threatening condition known as a hypertensive emergency, when surges in blood pressure can damage the heart, kidneys and central nervous system.
On Saturday, Tomanovic said Milosevic believed there had been attempts to poison him in prison and asked for the autopsy to take place in Russia. The tribunal rejected the request.
Last month, the tribunal refused a request by Milosevic to travel to Russia for specialist medical treatment. His lawyer said he had complained in his letter to Moscow about the medical care he received in the detention centre.
"Persons that are giving me the drug for the treatment of leprosy surely cannot be treating me and especially those persons against whom I have defended my country in the war and who also have an interest in silencing me can likewise not be treating me," Tomanovic quoted Milosevic as writing.
The lawyer said he had conveyed the letter to the Russian Embassy on Friday. The cover page was written in English and the rest in Serbian, he said.
Lawyer Zdenko Tomanovic showed a copy of Milosevic's handwritten letter to journalists at the U.N. tribunal, and said the former Yugoslav president had addressed it to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday.
"I am writing to you and asking you for help in the protecting from the criminal activities being perpetrated in the institution operating under the sign of the United Nations organisation," Tomanovic said, reading from Milosevic's letter.
Russia was a close ally of the former Yugoslavia and Milosevic's wife and brother live in the country.
"At the moment we have no information about that letter. We did not receive it," Interfax news agency quoted Mikhail Kamynin, spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, as saying.
In the letter, Milosevic wrote that he had two days earlier received a document confirming that in January a strong drug had been found in his blood which is only used to treat leprosy and tuberculosis, Tomanovic said.
The 64-year-old former president suffered from high blood pressure, heart problems and frequent bouts of flu.
Cardiologists treating Milosevic in The Hague had warned he was at risk of a life-threatening condition known as a hypertensive emergency, when surges in blood pressure can damage the heart, kidneys and central nervous system.
On Saturday, Tomanovic said Milosevic believed there had been attempts to poison him in prison and asked for the autopsy to take place in Russia. The tribunal rejected the request.
Last month, the tribunal refused a request by Milosevic to travel to Russia for specialist medical treatment. His lawyer said he had complained in his letter to Moscow about the medical care he received in the detention centre.
"Persons that are giving me the drug for the treatment of leprosy surely cannot be treating me and especially those persons against whom I have defended my country in the war and who also have an interest in silencing me can likewise not be treating me," Tomanovic quoted Milosevic as writing.
The lawyer said he had conveyed the letter to the Russian Embassy on Friday. The cover page was written in English and the rest in Serbian, he said.
posted by Marko at 3/12/2006 09:00:00 AM
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