President Kostunica put Milosevic under surveillance

The original charge sheet officially accused Mr Milosevic of abuse of power, and association in order to carry out criminal acts.

It said he "committed the above-mentioned criminal acts with the intention of acquiring financial and other benefits for himself, for a certain circle of people, and for the then governing Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) which he led".

It added: "He issued illegal orders in breach of the legal and constitutional authority vested in the president of Serbia and the president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, amounting to a total so far of more than 1.7bn dinars and 197m Deutsch Marks."

On 2 April a new charge was filed - organising a group and inciting persons to prevent actions by officials - based on a police claim that Mr Milosevic urged his guards to shoot at officers trying to arrest him.

Officials have not ruled out charging Mr Milosevic with assassination, abduction and even armed rebellion.

The accusations that could be ranged against him fall into the following categories:

• Gold smuggling - Police have been investigating claims that Mr Milosevic's associates moved substantial quantities of gold from the mine at Bor in southern Serbia to Switzerland.

  Some of the gold was sold, and the proceeds were apparently paid into bank accounts in Greece and Cyprus. These are favoured destinations for illicit money transfers from Serbia since the time of the UN sanctions against Belgrade during the Bosnian war.

  The gold in question may be just part of other assets - including hard currency - which Mr Milosevic's collaborators may have removed from state funds for their own private use.

• False claims over property - Mr Milosevic has been accused of making false claims about the extent of his assets to secure for himself a luxurious government villa.

  If the ex-leader were to be found guilty of forging documents to conceal his assets, he could be sentenced to up to three years' imprisonment.

• Assassinations - The former secret police chief, Rade Markovic, was arrested in February on charges that his organisation was involved in the attempted assassination of prominent opposition leader Vuk Draskovic, in an apparent road accident in 1999.

  Vuk Draskovic: Claims Mr Milosevic was behind assassination attempt

  Four of Mr Draskovic's associates were killed in the incident, which involved a truck plunging into Mr Draskovic's convoy of cars.

  The killing in 1999 of newspaper publisher Slavko Curuvija, a one-time ally who had turned against Mr Milosevic, has also been blamed on the secret police. This could implicate Mr Milosevic himself.

• Abduction - Former Yugoslav President Ivan Stambolic was kidnapped in August last year while out jogging.

  Rade Markovic is suspected of being behind assassinations and kidnappings

  No evidence has come to light so far as to who was behind the abduction of Mr Stambolic, who had become a bitter critic of the Milosevic regime.

  But Mr Stambolic's friends have been pointing an accusing finger at the secret police.

• Election fraud - After the Yugoslav presidential election in September, the Federal Electoral Commission tried to deprive Vojislav Kostunica of victory by claiming that he received less than the required 50% of the votes cast.

  Five members of the commission are now facing trial for the falsification of results. The matter could be extended to the municipal elections at the end of 1996 when the Electoral Commission annulled opposition victories in a number of Serbian cities.

  The chain of command behind the ballot rigging could well lead to Mr Milosevic.

• War crimes - While investigators in Serbia have gathered evidence against Mr Milosevic, The Hague Tribunal says it could start a trial any time on the basis of an indictment it issued against Mr Milosevic in 1999 for war crimes allegedly committed in Kosovo.

  Following his arrest, the chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, said she had drawn up a second indictment for crimes allegedly committed in Bosnia.

  The Serbian authorities are reluctant to extradite the former leader, partly on the grounds that such a move could provoke political unrest.

  However, a recent opinion poll suggests that the majority of Serbs (56% against 31%) would be willing to see their former leader tried in The Hague.