Enlarge imageMOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow is considering a request by former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to come to Russia for medical treatment, Interfax news agency quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying on Wednesday.
Milosevic, who is suffering from a heart condition and high blood pressure, has asked for a provisional release from detention in the Netherlands where he is being tried by the war crimes tribunal on genocide charges.
"Russia is discussing this question. All the legal aspects are being studied," a Foreign Ministry spokesman told the agency, when asked if Russia would consider sending guarantees to the international tribunal that Milosevic would return.
The prosecution in Milosevic’s trial, which has been going on for four years, opposes him visiting Russia and says there is no reason to believe he would return to The Hague for the rest of his trial.
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
The prosecution says it believes Milosevic’s brother, wife and son could all be in Russia and that he could be declared unfit to travel as soon as he arrived.
His brother Borislav, who is a former ambassador to Moscow and lives in Russia, told Ekho Moskvy radio that not admitting Milosevic would be unfair.
"If a man, who long ago passed 60 years of age, is not allowed to undergo treatment of any kind, then it will be a clear violation of his human rights," he said.
"I think the tribunal has to recognise this fact and I hope it will be so."
The prosecutors have said they would oppose a release even if Russia provided guarantees that Milosevic will return, saying Moscow has previously not fulfilled its promises in such cases.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman told Interfax that such claims were unreasonable.
"This does not reflect reality ... in this question all conventions of international law must be examined," Ministry Spokesman Mikhail Kamynin was quoted as saying.
Milosevic, 64, is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Balkans in the 1990s.
Judges have adjourned his trial until January 23 to give Milosevic more time to rest beyond the court’s three-week winter holiday.
