http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article307095.ece
The Independent (UK)
The Milosevic family 'sells
up' in Serbia to be nearer father
By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
in Belgrade
Published: 20 August 2005
The family of the former Serbian
president Slobodan Milosevic, on trial at The Hague for war crimes, is planning
to sell estates in Belgrade and elsewhere, using the proceeds to buy property in
the Dutch capital, to be nearer the disgraced dictator.
A source close to
the family told The Independent: "The long separation has been very hard for all
of them." But friends of the family say the eventual move to the Netherlands by
the family would be at the prompting of Mr Milosevic, who has privately
complained of loneliness.
Mr Milosevic, 64, and his wife Mira Markovic,
63, are high school sweethearts and have been married for more than four
decades. The couple own five large houses in Serbia, two in the Dedinje
neighbourhood of Belgrade and three in their home town of Pozarevac, 70 miles
east of the capital.
The Belgrade residences alone are estimated to be
worth at least ?3m (£2m), and the homes at Pozarevac are valued at a total of
?1.2m. The family paid a total of ?6,000 for them in the 1990s, when Mr
Milosevic's power in Serbia was absolute. The source said that most if not all
are about to be put on the market.
All the buildings are marble
decorated, with heated floors, large gardens and extensive video surveillance
equipment. Mr Milosevic's son, Marko, still lives in one of the Pozarevac homes
with his wife Milica, 30, and their son Marko, aged six. But none of the rest of
the Milosevic family now live in Serbia.
Ms Markovic left in 2003 for
Russia, to join Marko who fled the country only days after Mr Milosevic fell
from power in October 2000. The couple's daughter Marija, 40, sold all her flats
in Belgrade years ago and lives in Montenegro.
The news of the property
sale has infuriated Serbs, who were already irritated by the state prosecutors'
decision to drop charges against Marko, who was accused of harassing political
opponents of his father, threatening one with a chainsaw. A few months ago,
financial corruption charges were also suddenly dropped against Ms Markovic.
Both have now been taken off the list of international arrest warrants and can
travel to Holland.
The dropping of charges was seen as a clear political
deal between the Socialist party Mr Milosevic once led, and the conservative
minority government of Vojislav Kostunica, which remains in power thanks to the
votes of Socialist MPs. That move now appears to have been a prelude to the
final abandonment of Serbia by the Milosevic family.
A Vienna-based media
watchdog has expressed concern about remarks made by Velimir Ilic, a Serbian
minister, at a press conference after Marko was cleared. He reportedly told a
journalist she and her colleagues at a Belgrade television station were sick and
needed psychiatric treatment. His media adviser also threatened to kill the
reporter's boss, the watchdog said.
