ACCUSATIONS AGAINST MILOSEVIC UNSUBSTANTIATED








BELGRADE, March 12 /from RIA Novosti's Sergei Ryabikin/ - As of now, there is no evidence to incriminate Yugoslav ex-president Slobodan Milosevic.


	Among other things, there is no proof of Milosevic's complicity in the murder of four leaders of the opposition Serb Renewal Movement, or SRM, in October 1999, the victims' lawyer, Rajko Danilovic, told Radio Index. SRM chairman, Vuk Draskovic, had earlier accused Milosevic of involvement in the organization of the assassination.


	Accusations that the former Yugoslav president is complicit in spiriting away US$4bn have not been confirmed either. Repeated probes into banks in Greece and Cyprus, where Milosevic had allegedly deposited billions of dollars, have failed to discover any accounts to his name.


	The ex-president's role in smuggling 173 kilos of gold out of Yugoslavia to Switzerland, where it was subsequently sold, has not been established. This turned out to be an ordinary commercial transaction, with the gold owned by a foreign company and stored at an enriching plant in Yugoslavia. All the paperwork on the gold, its processing and transportation was drawn up in accordance with international law, say Yugoslav customs bodies that have probed the issue. A spokesman for the Swiss Economic Department said in Zurich there is no evidence that Milosevic and his associates got kickbacks from the sale of the gold.


	In a separate development, the allegation that Milosevic moved abroad 727 kilos of gold from an enriching plant in the Yugoslav city of Bor has been denied by the plant's CEO Cedomir Zivkovic. He says his plant has processed the concentrate and that it holds all relevant documents on its production and transportation, with all the due payments to the government made. Papers on all related transactions have been handed over to the Serb Interior Ministry.


	Local and foreign media's and assorted politicians' allegations that Slobodan Milosevic may soon get arrested have since late last February impelled several dozens of the ex-president's backers to stand "voluntary guard" at the gates of Milosevic's villa in downtown Belgrade, where he resides with his spouse. The volunteers say they are determined to prevent Milosevic's possible arrest.