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Milosevic Returns To Prison After Hospital Stay
BELGRADE, April 13 (News Agencies) - Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic has returned to prison after spending two days in hospital with a heart problem, one of his lawyers said Friday.
Miroslav Vasic, a lawyer working at the Belgrade practice of Milosevic's attorney Toma Fila, told AFP Milosevic had returned Friday afternoon to the city's central prison, where he has been jailed since April 1st, from a military hospital.
Vasic said a judge ordered Milosevic's return to prison Friday, in a decision based on the recommendation of medical experts who examined him.
He said that the former strongman, who has been jailed since April 1st facing charges of abuse of power and corruption, was sent back to the same cell he had occupied before he was rushed to hospital late Wednesday complaining of chest pains.
Milosevic "will be given the same treatment in prison as until now," he added.
The former president has a cell in the VIP wing of Belgrade's central prison, nicknamed the Hyatt after the chain of luxury hotels, complete with coffee and tea service, a space heater and newspapers.
An AFP reporter said he saw a convoy with BMW and Mercedes limousines and police jeeps arrive at the prison at about 5:15 pm (1515 GMT).
Earlier Friday, Boris Tadic, a top member of the ruling DOS coalition, told reporters Milosevic was in good condition.
When asked if Milosevic's health complaints might have been a legal tactic to avoid prosecution, Tadic said: "A possible attempt to avoid judicial proceedings with health problems is more than naive."
"There is no way that justice officials would accept something like that," Tadic said.
Officials in Belgrade said Milosevic's condition would not stand in the way of his possible prosecution.
The Belgrade daily Blic quoted Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic as saying, "One who must be put on trial will be, no matter what his health condition is, and there will be no changes or disturbance in the process against Milosevic."
Mihajlo Bakrac, another of associate of Milosevic's attorney, had suggested Thursday that they would request his release from prison if incarceration could be shown to be endangering his health.
Milosevic was examined by doctors after his arrest April 1st and found to have slightly high blood pressure but was given an otherwise clean bill of health.
Medical sources who saw him Wednesday night said his condition was not "as serious as it looked at first," saying that the coronary problems had "most likely" been provoked by "stress-related high blood pressure." A prison source said he had suffered a mild heart attack.
The Belgrade daily 24 Casa, a mouthpiece of Milosevic's Socialist Party (SPS), said Friday the former strongman had "refused to be taken to the hospital" after complaining of chest pains.
But his wife, Mira Markovic, who was visiting Milosevic at the time, demanded a medical check-up be performed by doctors in the prison hospital, who later decided to transfer him to Belgrade's military hospital.
Milosevic was put in a "unit for special patients" - a no-access complex with a round-the-clock guard, Politika said, though media reports added that his wife and daughter visited him in hospital Thursday.
The SPS, which has blamed prison conditions for their leader's health problems, announced it would hold a protest in Belgrade Saturday demanding his release from prison.
More than 2,000 SPS supporters rallied last weekend in support of Milosevic.
Milosevic, who has also been indicted for war crimes by the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, which is demanding his extradition, was toppled from power last October in general elections.
He gave himself up to Yugoslav authorities April 1st, after a more than 30-hour stand-off between his armed guards and security forces.
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