Milosevic Checks Out

Former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic was found dead Saturday in his prison cell. He was 64. Milosevic, who suffered chronic heart ailments and high blood pressure, apparently died of natural causes and was found in his bed, the U.N. tribunal said.

Wow. I've seen him on trial a couple of times. When we fly to Amsterdam, we stay in The Hague and our hotel shares a driveway circle with the world court. I've gone over to watch when Milosevic was "in". The trial takes place in a glass-walled courtroom and we sat in some chairs behind the witness stand. It's all translated into English and you can wear headphones to hear it in other languages if you want.

Apparently Milosevic was pretty wild in the early years of the trial. Another pilot told me he was watching the trial one day when things got a little out of control. The curtains were quickly closed and the spectators were ushered out. When I saw Milosevic he just looked like a retired businessman, as in the picture above.

There seems to be mixed feelings about his untimely death.

Milosevic's death will be a crushing blow to the tribunal and those looking to establish an authoritative historical record of the Balkan wars.

"Justice was late," said Hashim Thaci, the leader of ethnic Albanian insurgents against Milosevic's forces in 1998-1999 in Kosovo's capital, Pristina. "God took him."

Though the witness testimony is on public record, history will be denied the judgment of a panel of legal experts weighing the evidence of his personal guilt and the story of his regime.

"It is a pity he didn't live to the end of the trial to get the sentence he deserved," Croatian President Stipe Mesic said.

I think a nearly 5-year trial was enough. Even if it had ended in a conviction, there is no penalty severe enough for the atrocities he committed. I'm glad I got to witness this interesting bit of history.