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Milosevic body heads to BelgradeQuestions continue about circumstances of death
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QUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (CNN) -- The body of Slobodan Milosevic is to leave Amsterdam for Belgrade, where a funeral for the former Yugoslav leader will be held, one of his lawyers said. Attorney Branko Rakic told a news conference that the body was scheduled to leave Schiphol Airport, where it was staying overnight, at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday (12:15 p.m. GMT) and arrive in Belgrade at 3:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. GMT). The Serbian authorities did not agree to the family's wish for a state funeral with full honors for the former Yugoslav president. However lawyer Rankic said Milosevic would be given a respectable burial in Belgrade. "He will have a grave a president should have," he said, predicting a large turnout of Milosevic's supporters. Serbian Socialist Party Vice President Milorad Vucelic later confirmed the body would be taken to the Serbian capital for funeral services. Milosevic's son Marko left his Russian exile Tuesday to go to the Netherlands to accompany his father's body. The family had been pushing for a Belgrade funeral, and a court there cleared the way Tuesday by lifting an arrest warrant for his widow. The court decision did not dismiss the charges of abuse of power against Mira Markovic, however. According to the court, Markovic can come to Serbia without being arrested, but she must surrender her passport, and the family must pay an $18,000 bond to guarantee her appearance at a March 23 hearing on the charges against her. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica issued a statement saying the court decision made it possible for Milosevic's family to come to Serbia for the burial, but Serb officials made it clear the government would not organize a state funeral. Meanwhile, questions continued over the cause of Milosevic's death. Preliminary autopsy results indicated the former president of Serbia died Saturday of a heart attack in his cell at a U.N. detention center, but Milosevic family members said they did not trust the autopsy and believed he may have been poisoned. "He got killed, he didn't die. He got killed. There is a murder," Marko Milosevic told AP Television News on his arrival at Amsterdam airport from Russia, where he lives in exile. Blood tests earlier this year found traces in Milosevic's bloodstream of an unprescribed antibiotic that would have counteracted his blood pressure medication. Milosevic himself claimed he was receiving poor treatment and being poisoned, but doctors at the detention center believed he was self-medicating. A U.N. War Crimes Tribunal official confirmed to CNN Tuesday that the court had been told on several occasions in the past that unprescribed drugs were smuggled into prison for Milosevic. (Full story) The official, on the condition of anonymity, said the drugs were obtained from doctors in Serbia. Final autopsy results and a toxicology report are expected sometime this week. Russia sent a medical team to The Hague to examine post-mortem results after expressing doubts about the War Crime Tribunal's investigation into Milosevic's death. The tribunal held a hearing Tuesday and formally closed the trial. (Full story) Milosevic, nicknamed the "Butcher of the Balkans," was charged with 66 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Balkans during the 1990s. CNN's Alessio Vinci contributed to this report. Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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