Via AP:

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav leader, who was branded “the butcher of the Balkans” and was on trial for war crimes after orchestrating a decade of bloodshed during the breakup of his country, was found dead Saturday in his prison cell. He was 64.

Milosevic, who suffered chronic heart ailments and high blood pressure, apparently died of natural causes and was found in his bed, the U.N. tribunal said, without giving an exact time of death.

He had been examined by doctors following his frequent complaints of fatigue or ill health that delayed his trial, but the tribunal could not immediately say when he last underwent a medical checkup. All detainees at the center in Scheveningen are checked by a guard every half hour.

The tribunal said Milosevic’s family had been informed of his death, which came nearly five years after he was arrested, then extradited to
The Hague.

Bubblehead e-mails:

I’m wondering if Slobodan Milosevic died of boredom; he’s been on trial since 2002. I’m also wondering if the ICC will be investigated for the spate of prisoners dying in their custody like the US would be.

Ninme: International Criminal Court Finally Displays Some Efficiency.

Austin Bay sums things up:

When the trial first started I recall a prosecutor focusing on a dozen key charges. Milosevicprobably should have been tried in Serbia; the UN trial had aspects of farce and show, though the charges were deadly serious and the prosecutorial teams’ work (in many instances) was superb. I think the Iraqis are doing a much better job with Saddam’s trial than the international court did with Milosevic. The trial has moved along despite Saddam’s shenanigans (and some of what Saddam is doing appears to be ripped from Milosevic’s playbook). Milosevic orchestrated the Serb-Croat war and crafted the Serb strategy of “creeping aggression.” He was also the bully behind “ethnic cleansing” in eastern Bosnia. He epitomized the move from “red to brown” in eastern Europe– moving from Communist to ultra-nationalist fascist as the Cold War ended. The Nazis and Communists both knew they were cut from the same hideous human mold. They both share a disdain for liberalism and a disregard for human life. They are also permanently anti-American. Hitler called the US cowboys– remember that next time you hear the US “cowboy” disparaged. You can see these traits displayed by the Stalinists still among us.

Ed Morrissey:

In the end, he beat the Hague and the UN in the limited arena left to him. He stalled the trial long enough to die before its completion and made the Hague look like incompetents and fools. Like all sociopaths, he wanted to control as much as possible right to the very end — and unfortunately, he succeeded.

Big Pharoah wonders:

It seems this is another suicide of an imprisoned Serb leader. Milan Babic, the Serb leader of a rebel republic in Croatia and one of the key figures in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, committed suicide in prison a few days ago. Was there a suicide agreement?

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