Milosevic believed was being poisoned in ICTY

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.