The UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (UNMICT) has denied a request made by war crimes convict Ratko Mladic’s defense to open a breach of court compliance proceeding against the medical staff at the Hague detention centre.

The defense team complained about doctor Paulus Falke, the chief of the medical staff of the detention centre, as well as other medical staff, saying they are to blame for the deteriorating health of the former Republika Srpska Army commander.

Since the material submitted by the defense “does not show that the medical staff has intentionally and consciously obstructed justice, I conclude that Mladic's defense did not prove that there is suspicion they are guilty of breach of non-compliance with the court,” the decision, signed by President Theodor Meron, states.

The UNMICT is tasked with finishing the job of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which closed its doors last year.

In a first instance ruling, Mladic was sentenced to life in prison last year for war crimes committed during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, including the Srebrenica genocide, expulsion of Bosniaks and Croats throughout the country, terrorizing the citizens of Sarajevo during the capital's wartime siege and taking UNPROFOR officers hostage.