CNN.com - Milosevic 'died of natural causes'

Slobodan Milosevic was on trial for war crimes at The Hague.

(CNN) -- Former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic died of a heart attack in his cell while on trial for war crimes and was not poisoned, a U.N. tribunal has concluded.

In a report released Wednesday, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ruled out foul play in his March 11 death "alone in a locked cell" in The Hague.

The inquiry confirmed earlier coroner and police inquiries, including an autopsy with full pathological and toxicological investigations conducted by the Netherlands Forensic Institute -- that concluded Milosevic "died of natural causes from a heart attack."

"No poison was found in his body. No other chemical substance present in his body contributed to his death. No rifampicin was found in his body. There were no indications of external violence," it said.

"Nothing has been found to support allegations reported in some sections of the media that Mr. Milosevic had been murdered, in particular by poisoning. The results of the independent investigation by the Dutch authorities demonstrate that such allegations are entirely false."

Rifampicin -- an antibiotic used to treat leprosy and tuberculosis -- would have counteracted Milosevic's blood pressure medication. It had been found in a blood sample taken in January.

The report said the arrangements allowing Milosevic to pursue his own defense "compromised the security" at the detention unit.

"Because of these arrangements Mr. Milosevic was able to obtain medications not prescribed for him by treating doctors at UNDU. The security deficiencies had been partially, but not entirely, remedied."

Milosevic was transferred to the U.N. Detention Unit in June 2001 and the report noted that he had "serious health problems" when he arrived there. Milosevic suffered from hypertension.

"He refused to take some prescribed medications and varied prescribed dosages of others. He also self-medicated as evidenced by the finding on occasions of non-prescribed medications in his privileged office and his cell, and the presence of non-prescribed medications in blood tests.

"Such events occurred at different times throughout his detention, the most recent being 1 February 2006. On occasions he refused to be tested or refused to be hospitalized."

Also, the report said "there is a difference of expert opinion" as to whether surgery could have prevented his death.

More than 60 people were interviewed or provided statements.

Milosevic -- who had been on trial since February 2002 -- faced 66 charges of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes stemming from the Balkans wars last decade. He had been president of both Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

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