The Hindu : International : Warrant for Milosevic's wife suspended

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Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006

International

International

Warrant for Milosevic's wife suspended

BELGRADE (Serbia-Montenegro): A Belgrade court suspended an arrest warrant for Slobodan Milosevic's wife on Tuesday, but ordered her passport to be seized, throwing into doubt a Belgrade funeral for the former Yugoslav President. The court said Mirjana Markovic ``will remain free and will not be taken into custody'' after her lawyers deposited a bond worth Euro15,000 as a guarantee she would appear at a court hearing that has not yet been scheduled. Ms. Markovic, considered the power behind the scenes during Milosevic's autocratic rule in the 1990s, faces charges of abuse of power. The court said, ``on her arrival in the country, the defendant's passport will be impounded.'' Ms. Markovic had said she would return to Serbia only if the arrest warrant was lifted. The impounding of her passport would prevent her from leaving Serbia. Milosevic's Socialist party vice-president, Milorad Vucelic, told Belgrade's Beta news agency that he spoke to Ms. Markovic in Moscow after the court ruling, and that ``in a few hours'' she would make a decision on whether Milosevic would be buried in Belgrade or Moscow. Milosevic's son, Marko, who was in The Hague to claim the body, raised the possibility of a temporary burial in Russia. There were fears that a funeral in Serbia could be used by nationalists to launch an attempt to climb back to power more than five years after Milosevic was toppled in a massive pro-democracy revolt. — AP

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