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Post by The Tommunist on Mar 11, 2006 21:00:59 GMT
News today reported that Slobodan Milosevic, on trial for crimes against humanity (indeed, the first active head of state to be so) was discovered dead in his cell. His lawyer claims he would never have committed suicide, but there is the possibility...
Any thoughts?
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Post by HStorm on Mar 11, 2006 21:13:02 GMT
The man, as he was before he was incarcerated, certainly wouldn't have committed suicide, but who knows what effect five years of imprisonment, of hearing his list of crimes drummed out at him over and over, and of an almost inevitable death sentence at the end, would have on him? At present, information about the discovery of his body is too thin for us to say, so I'll reserve judgement on whether there was any foul play over his death.
As for the question in the topic title, as is always the case with these things it's very much a matter of perspective. He was a hero of the Serb Nationalists - whose grievances were probably genuine - but the War Crimes that ensued, and Milosevic's own irrational macho attitude in confrontations with the West, were completely hideous. And it does the Serb Nationalists no credit that after all these years they still try to pretend that the crimes never happened. We all know that the War Crimes weren't one-way traffic - are they ever - but this doesn't mean that the ones Milosevic commanded suddenly didn't count.
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Post by Naselus on Mar 12, 2006 1:19:28 GMT
He was a genocidal monster, and his name shouldn't be in the same sentence as the word "hero".
And as for his death... well, he was ill anyway, wasn't he? And the ludicrous claims he made about being poisoned in prison sound very familiar. It's what every tinpot dictator being made to answer for his crimes says, from Napoleon Bonaparte to Saddam Hussein.
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Post by ringmasterrob on Mar 12, 2006 23:07:00 GMT
And as for his death... well, he was ill anyway, wasn't he? Yes, he was, and preliminary examinations suggest that he did indeed die of heart failure. |
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Post by HStorm on Mar 13, 2006 11:14:52 GMT
Yes, but the claim is - and his lawyer says that Milosevic "wrote a letter to this effect only the day before he died" (what? You mean you're not convinced?) - that he was being poisoned. Poison does induce heart failure. For what it's worth.
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Post by ringmasterrob on Mar 13, 2006 19:50:51 GMT
Yes, but the claim is - and his lawyer says that Milosevic "wrote a letter to this effect only the day before he died" (what? You mean you're not convinced?) - that he was being poisoned. Poison does induce heart failure. For what it's worth. I'm aware of the claims but I think they're particularly dubious, I think we should take any reports that come out over the next couple of days with a pinch of salt. There is of course the key fact that Milosevic's condition was worsening and he requested treatment in Russia, the option the Russians offered the tribunal followed all of their guidelines but the tribunal still refused. If anything this could have contributed to his death rather than explicit poisoning |
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Post by modeski on Mar 14, 2006 3:09:20 GMT
Reports coming out here suggest that Milosevic killed himself, and that he was deliberately taking the wrong heart medication to achieve this. I don't know, I'm a bit underwhelmed by this news.
He could well have been poisoned, but there would have to be reasons deeper than we're being told about. Perhaps he threatened to reveal things that could be damaging to the West? It's purely speculation of course, but not outwith the realms of possibility.
Milosevic never struck me as the kind of man to commit suicide. He's always been pretty convinced of the correctness of his views, hence this trial dragging out for five years. Mind you, Storm has a point when he says that the trial could have had an effect on him.
All I know for sure is, we don't know a hell of a lot.
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Post by HStorm on Mar 14, 2006 8:55:57 GMT
I'm aware of the claims but I think they're particularly dubious Agreed. I only stated it to make sure both sides of the argument are put forward, really; this one sounds utterly like mischief-making by the lawyer. |
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Post by ringmasterrob on Mar 14, 2006 9:45:30 GMT
Fair enough, although another aspect of this that we should consider is what a disaster it is for the Hague Tribunal. Milosevic will now be seen to have escaped justice, justice has not seen to be done and after five long years the trial hasn't exactly managed to achieve anything and now its defendant is lying on a mortuary slab. A bit of a disappointing result for them really...
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Post by HStorm on Mar 14, 2006 11:13:19 GMT
Milosevic didn't exactly spend the last five years of his life in the lap of luxury, but yeah, he deserved a great deal worse.
I actually think they should continue the trial, simply to find a final, conclusive summary of his guilt (or, chance in a million, otherwise) for history's sake.
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Post by HStorm on May 31, 2006 12:03:41 GMT
Today the UN announced that it has completed its investigation into the death of Slobodan Milosevic, and has concluded that it can find no indication at all that there was any foul play.
Pardon me while I just make the very, very perfunctory effort required to avoid fainting in amazement.
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Post by Naselus on Jun 1, 2006 11:58:02 GMT
Good lord. And there was me putting the finishing touches to the CIA plot to kill him.
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