Who dunnit?

i knew this was coming. I could see it from a million miles away (or 1,562,500 kilometres). Here come the 'who done it' conspiracy theories from every tom, dick and harry in the balkans and beyond. It's the talk of the town, in every cafe, factory and office building in southeast Europe. The theories range from serious probabilities to fairy tales of the grandest kind. Everyone wants to believe one of them.

There are two mainstream conspiracies, each one entirely dependent on what side of the fence you sit on. There is the Serb theory and the rest of the former Yugoslavia theory. So it goes. Listen.

Many Serbs, including most of the mainstream newspapers in both Serbia and Republika Srpska, believe he was intentionally murdered by the 'international community' and/or the Hague War Crimes Tribunal (in the eyes of most Serbs they are one in the same). Mr. Presidents legal advisor conveniently produced a letter to the Russian foreign minister apparently written just days before his death that Slobo was concerned that 'they' were trying to poison him. Hmmm, smell anything yet?

By then the headlines were already reading 'Murdered in the Hague' and 'They killed him.' They has still not been identified by police, but the all points bulletin for they has, nonetheless, been issued via interpol.

Just for a little background check for you folks out of the Den Haag loop. Slobo has been on trial for some time, or should i now say was on trial for several years. The trial was stopped fourteen times due to his poor health. Fair enough. I must say though, he was a magician at dragging it out and making an utter circus out of the Hague and its procedures. As the Hague noose tightened, meaning that his trial was nearing an end, Slobo - like Slobo - came up with a great plan. 'I'm too sick to stand trial right now, i must go to Russia for treatment.' And then it all started. His brother went wheeling and dealing in Moscow to get guarantees that Slobo would be returned after being treated. After quite a long hand of wheelin and a dealin' a deal was struck, at least between Slobo's brother, the Russian government and Mr. Milosevic himself. Now they just needed permission from mom and dad -- the International War Crimes Tribunal. Well, you know how the story goes. What kind of treatment can Slobo get in Moscow that he can't get the Holland. Exactly the point, you probably can't compare it. So he was rejected. This is about when the story gets interesting...listen:

Several weeks before his death a drug was found in Mr. Presidents system that wasn't supposed to be there. I'm not a pharmacist, and prefer medicinal herbs myself, so i won't pretend to know anything about it - i'll tell you what the media has told me. It was a drug that started with an r and ended with in. This drug is apparently used for TB of all things, and not at all for his condition, which was strictly a blood pressure and heart one. Now, according to Dutch doctors, this drug can offset or negate the affects of the drugs used to lower his blood pressure. Maybe this was his plan. To offset his own blood pressure medicine so they would allow him to Moscow. Call me crazy, but the man is a wizard at creating distraction and chaos. Whenever the opportunity arose whilst in power in Serbia, he created chaos to avoid taking the bullet.

I think this time he missed the boat. Or maybe not. Maybe he figured that he could get to Moscow, hell, worth a try anyway. If i am refused, well shit, i'm not going to stand in front of the world and be the first president of any country on earth to be convicted for genocide. I will give no one the pleasure of seeing that. Mom and Dad killed themselves, why can't I?

Then you have the factor that Bosnia and Herzegovina is seeking reparations from Serbia and Montenegro for war damages. BiH has a very good case, and Slobodan Milosevic getting convicted of genocide would almost certainly seal the deal -- resulting in ten of billions in reparations which would kill Serbia. So that theory is now in play -- that the Serbs actually wanted him dead.

Then comes the theory that the Hague simply didn't have what it took to make the indictment stick. These rumours, mostly prevalent amongst the Serbs, have a large portion of the population convinced that it was the international community (or they, same thing) who killed him intentionally in order not to be embarrassed and show the innocense of the Serbs in the Balkan Wars of the 1990's. Granted, I think the Kosovo case against them was rather weak, as was the Croatian case. The Bosnian case, however, would have got him in the end.

So who done it is the question...and everybody is convinced that somebody killed him. Doctors have said, with Serbian and Russian doctors present at the autopsy, that he died of heart failure (doesn't everyone in the end?) and a seemingly natural one. The Russian doctor did comment that he had a treatable condition -- which again fueled the fire in Serbia. But if he was taking medication to offset his blood pressure medicaments, then of course he was getting treatment and someone was intentionally fighting against that treatment.

The theories continue to whirl and swirl through every living room in the former Yugoslavia. His funeral has finally been arranged for Pozarevac in Serbia, without a state ceremony in the capital. In fact, he was -- well his followers and family - rejected of the opportunity to have an open casket in the parliament building in Belgrade. He, instead, is being shown in the Revolution Museum, which has infuriated the Director of the museum. She claims it destroys the integrity of this cultural institution. So maybe the Serbs are fed up with ole Slobo, and only hundreds have come to pay respects and not the hundreds of thousands that fully supported him less than a decade ago.

The bottom line is, however, is that Slobodan Milosevic is dead. He didn't get a verdict on his trial which all sides agree is a tragedy. It is an end of one life, and possibly the end of long chapter for Serbia. Move on or stay in the trench of denial...regardless the former Yugoslavia has one big case of the 'who dunnits.'