We have just witnessed the birth of two new conspiracy theories around the same event. They might not play big in the English-speaking world, but they will in certain parts of Central and Eastern Europe. Both of them can be fi led under the heading: Who killed Slobodan Milosevic?

The former President of Yugoslavia/Serbia (seen in mudsmeared poster at right) was found dead in his cell in The Hague – where his trial for war crimes was in its fourth year – on 11 March, apparently of a heart attack. Milosevic had been suffering from high blood pressure and heart problems, but analysis of his blood a couple of weeks before his death also showed the presence of an antibiotic, rifampicin, generally prescribed for leprosy.