THE United Nations war crimes tribunal had already begun an urgent investigation into how Slobodan Milosevic had access to unprescribed drugs inside his prison cell before he died at the weekend.

Judges received medical reports last week informing them that the war crimes suspect had traces in his blood of a powerful antibiotic normally used to treat leprosy or tuberculosis. The drug, rifampicin, neutralises the effects of medicine that he was being forced to take for a heart condition. It is thought that the former Serbian President, who was facing a verdict on charges including genocide and war crimes after a four-year trial, was being supplied the drug as part of an “escape plan” that went wrong.

He had been trying to persuade the court to allow him to go to Moscow for medical treatment, claiming that the treatment he was receiving from Dutch doctors was not working. An autopsy carried out by the tribunal on Sunday confirmed that Milosevic died of a heart attack, although the court is still awaiting the results of toxicological tests that would show what drugs were in his blood at the time of death.

One source said: “It is thought to have been an escape plan, the idea being that he went off for treatment to Russia, but was then too ill to be returned to the trial.”

Blood tests carried out two weeks ago by the Dutch toxicologist Professor Donald Uges confirmed the presence of the drug rifampicin. Professor Uges said yesterday that he thought that Milosevic had taken the drugs to improve his case for getting medical treatment in Russia, where his wife, son and brother live: “I don’t think he took his medicines for suicide, only for his trip to Moscow . . . I think that was his last possibility to escape The Hague. I am sure there is no murder.”

Yesterday the Russian Government said that it did not trust the results of the autopsy and sent a team of doctors for an independent verdict. Sergei Lavrov, the Foreign Minister, confirmed that he had received a letter from Milosevic, written just before he died, complaining of inadequate medical treatment. Milosevic claimed that he was being poisoned.

The body of the former Serbian President was yesterday released to his son, Marko Milosevic, who was given a visa to travel to the Netherlands to take it for a funeral. The burial is likely to be held in Belgrade, the Serbian capital. Despite initial disagreement on the location, his family requested a funeral there, although Boris Tadic, the President, has rejected demands for a full state funeral. In a rare television appearance, Marko Milosevic said: “He was the head of Serbia and the head of Yugoslavia. There is nothing to discuss about this fact. His place is in the Yugoslav capital. This is our family’s will.”

The Serbian prosecutor was reported to have agreed not to arrest Milosevic’s wife Mira Markovic if she attends. She lives in exile in Russia after being charged with abuse of power in Serbia. However, the Serb Government is worried that Milosevic’s funeral will become a rallying point for hardline nationalists, who are keen to portray him as a victim of “victor’s justice” murdered by The Hague tribunal.

The Hague court became suspicious that Mr Milosevic was secretly taking unprescribed drugs after his official medicine failed to work. On January 12 doctors suggested the most likely reason was that he was secretly taking unofficial drugs for a second time. In 2003 he was found to have been taking drugs supplied by his Belgrade doctor rather than those prescribed by the prison doctor, and since then had to take medication under supervision.

Last Tuesday the trial judges were informed of Professor Uges’s tests confirming the presence of rifampicin, and on Wednesday they requested that Milosevic’s lawyers explain the situation by this Thursday. Milosevic died on March 11, and the tribunal has now launched a formal inquiry under Judge Kevin Parker.

Milosevic’s death was a huge blow to UN prosecutors, who had formally complained as recently as December that Milosevic was not following his medical regime. “Our concerns were based on confidential filings. The tribunal had evidence of him taking unprescribed medicines this year,” a prosecution source said.

Richard Dicker, a lawyer for the US group Human Rights Watch, said: “What measures were in place to ensure unprescribed medicines were not passed to him? If the tribunal knew about it and was negligent, then that is bad.” A tribunal spokeswoman could not confirm the allegation.

A family at bay

Mirjana Markovic: the wife
Charged in 2002 in Serbia with inciting abuse of office in a property scandal involving her grandson’s nanny and others during her husband’s rule. She denied the charges. In February 2003 she joined her son, Marko, in Russia and an Interpol arrest warrant was issued. Hearings began in March 2003

Marija Milosevic: the daughter
Charged in Serbia with unlicensed possession of firearms, endangering public safety by shooting at police taking her father into custody in 2001. Suspended sentence overturned and retrial started in 2004. Lives in Montenegro, failed to appear in court in February. No international arrest warrant issued

Marko Milosevic: the son
Charged in Serbia with threatening to kill opposition activist with a chainsaw at a disco. Fled to Russia in 2000. Failed to appear in court, leading to arrest warrant then Interpol warrant. Trial began in March 2003. Six months’ jail sentence suspended. Key witness revoked testimony last August. Charges dropped

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