Milosevic Family Clashes Over Burial Site

Milosevic Family Clashes Over Burial Site

Published: 3/12/06, 4:47 PM EDT
BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - Slobodan Milosevic's family disagreed Sunday over whether the former Yugoslav president should be buried in Serbia, Russia or Montenegro.

A funeral in Serbia would become a major rallying point for Milosevic supporters, but his wife and son are wanted on international arrest warrants for alleged abuse of power while Milosevic was in office and have fled to Russia. They would have to be arrested if they returned to Serbia to attend.

Milosevic, 64, was found dead Saturday in his bed at the U.N. war crimes tribunal's detention center in The Hague, Netherlands. The U.N. tribunal said the first autopsy report says Milosevic died of a heart attack.

The former Yugoslav leader had been ailing throughout the trial, suffering from heart ailments, high blood pressure and headaches.

Milosevic's death abruptly ended his four-year trial for orchestrating a decade of conflict that killed 250,000 people and tore the Yugoslav federation asunder. No verdict will be issued in his trial on 66 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Widow Mirjana Markovic and her son, Marko, want Milosevic buried in Moscow, where they live, Serbia's Beta news agency reported.

But Milosevic's brother, Borislav, who also lives in Moscow, suggested to Beta a burial "in his own country as he's a son of Serbia."

Serbian President Boris Tadic said Sunday a state funeral for Milosevic would be "absolutely inappropriate."

Meanwhile, Milosevic's daughter, Marija, said the former president should be buried in Montenegro in a family plot in a remote village 30 miles north of the capital.

"He's not a Russian to be buried in Moscow," Marija told Beta, adding that she would not attend the funeral if it was in Russia.

Marija Milosevic also faces charges in Serbia for firing a gun at a government official during Milosevic's 2001 arrest in Belgrade. She moved to Montenegro, Serbia's junior partner in the Serbia-Montenegro union, in 2001.

Rasim Ljajic, Serbia-Montenegro's human rights minister, said Milosevic's body would be delivered to his family by Monday, "when they should decide whether the funeral will be in Belgrade or in some other country."

Milosevic's Socialist Party, counting on a huge turnout, said it wants Milosevic buried at Belgrade's "Alley of Heroes" - a graveyard reserved for prominent Serbs. The alternative, they said, would be his birthplace of Pozarevac, some 30 miles to the south.

Party president Ivica Dacic said the funeral "should be a huge political manifestation in support of his policies."

Another Socialist Party official, Zoran Andjelkovic, said Milosevic "must be buried with full state honors and guarantees for his family members to attend the funeral freely."

Tadic said Sunday he would not pardon them.

An autopsy and toxicological examination were conducted in the Dutch capital Sunday amid claims by Milosevic supporters that he was poisoned and acknowledgment by the chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor that he could have committed suicide.

The full results will not be released before Monday.
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