ICTY knew Milosevic had access to drugs, alcohol: officials News
ICTY knew Milosevic had access to drugs, alcohol: officials

[JURIST] Two anonymous officials at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] said Tuesday that the Tribunal had been informed several times by the ICTY prison warden that former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive], found dead in his cell [JURIST report] early Saturday, had unfettered access to any materials brought to him by witnesses and legal advisors as he prepared for trial. The tribunal did not, however, tighten security around the indicted war criminal after the warden raised the possibility of Milosevic using drugs or alcohol in his cell. While full autopsy reports are not yet complete, preliminary autopsy reports [ICTY press release] suggest that a heart attack caused Milosevic's death.

Meanwhile ICTY chief prosecutor Carla De Ponte [BBC profile] suggested in a Tuesday interview [transcript, in French] with French newspaper Le Monde that Milosevic's death may even have been a suicide [VOA report] and that he may have secretly taken medicines to worsen his known heart problems. A Dutch toxicologist suggested Monday that he may have taken unauthorized drugs in an attempt to induce the Hague court [JURIST report] to send him to Moscow for medical treatment. AP has more.

9:44 PM ET – After earlier statements by Milosevic's son that his father would be temporarily buried in Russia, Milosevic lawyer Zdenko Tomanovic has said that burial will take place in Belgrade. BBC News has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US suffragists formed Equal Rights Party, named Presidential candidate

On September 20, 1884, a group of American suffragists formed the Equal Rights Party in San Francisco, dedicated to "equal and exact justice to every class of our citizens, without distinction of color, sex, or nationality" and in support of the proposition that "the laws of the several states be so amended that women will be recognized as voters, and their property-rights made equal with that of the male population, to the end that they may become self-supporting - rather than a dependent class." Read the full text of the first platform of the Equal Rights Party. The party immediately nominated Mrs. Belva Lockwood for US President and Marietta Snow for Vice-President. Grover Cleveland won that election, but Lockwood was included in a number of presidential primaries and is recorded to have won some 4149 votes from the male voters of the time.

Catholic Church tries Galileo for heresy

On September 20, 1633, the Roman Catholic Church tried Galileo Galilei on charges of heresy. Galileo was brought before the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith for his assertion that the Earth orbits the Sun. He was sentenced to spend the rest of his life under house arrest. Read documents from the trial of Galileo.

Suffragists formed Equal Rights Party, named Presidential candidate

On September 20, 1884, a group of suffragists formed the Equal Rights Party in San Francisco, dedicated to "equal and exact justice to every class of our citizens, without distinction of color, sex, or nationality" and in support of the proposition that "the laws of the several states be so amended that women will be recognized as voters, and their property-rights made equal with that of the male population, to the end that they may become self-supporting - rather than a dependent class."
Read the full text of the first platform of the Equal Rights Party.

The party immediately nominated Mrs. Belva Lockwood for US President and Marietta Snow for Vice-President. Grover Cleveland won that election, but Lockwood was included in a number of presidential primaries, and is recorded to have won some 4149 votes from the male voters of the time.