[JURIST] Russian diplomats Saturday criticized the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] for its Friday refusal [JURIST report; ruling] to grant former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic [BBC profile] provisional release so that he might travel to Russia for medical treatment for a heart condition. Prosecutors feared that Milosevic might claim he was too sick to return from Moscow to continue his trial [JURIST news archive], now in its fifth year [JURIST report], and the court said Milosevic could receive proper treatment in the Netherlands.

A Russian Foreign Ministry statement read in part, "The Russian side takes note of the ITFY's [sic] decision. At the same time, that decision cannot but evoke regret in Moscow, especially as the Tribunal left the necessary guarantees given by the Russian Federation without attention." AFP has more.