NETHERLANDS: Slobodan Milosevic was yesterday accused by prosecutors of taking mystery pills to make himself unfit for court at his Hague war crimes trial, writes Chris Stephen, in The Hague
Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice accused the former Yugoslav president of taking the drugs in order to cancel hearings in the long drawn-out trial and demanded that judges force Milosevic, now conducting his own defence, to hire a lawyer.
Mr Nice read from an official medical report, commissioned by Hague judges, that detected a mystery substance in recent blood tests.
The discovery came when doctors monitored Milosevic's compliance with instructions to take heart pills. His blood test showed that these other pills had not been taken, but that a mystery substance was present.
"Another drug was repeatedly found in the blood. Mr Milosevic is providing us with incorrect information about his medication intake," said the report.
Elsewhere in the report, the doctor complained about Milosevic's failure to take the correct pills to counter his hypertension, recording "serious doubt over the patient's adherence to his therapy. From a clinical point of view we have suspected this for some time."
A second doctor's report, also read out in court, concluded: "Since this drug is not on his medication list, this means that Mr Milosevic must obtain that drug in another way."
In what appears to be a reversal of the practice of some Olympic athletes to boost their performance, Mr Nice said Milosevic was ingesting performance-dehancing drugs that made him ill in order to stop having to come to trial. "He is taking drugs other than those prescribed. He has been obtaining other drugs," said Mr Nice. "This makes it overwhelmingly clear that the accused will do whatever is necessary to serve his own purposes."
Prosecutors hope to use this in their battle to convince Hague judges that Milosevic's illness is to some extent self-inflicted.
Despite months of delays and fears that the trial may drag on for several more years, judges have resisted forcing him to take a lawyer because Milosevic insists he is not being obstructive. The discovery of the mystery drug may change this equation.
The news will be a shock to the United Nations, which prides itself on the security of its Hague prison at Schevengen. Built inside an existing Dutch jail, the UN detention centre is believed to be the most secure in Europe, with mail, phone calls and visitors all screened. Yet Milosevic appears able to obtain illicit drugs over a period of many months. Milosevic denied the claims. "I take my medication in the presence of guards. This assumption is groundless."
A decision by the judges is due today.