Serbia offers guarantees for release of Hague convict Ratko Mladic for treatment

Mladic is serving a life sentence for genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s.

According to a statement released by the Serbian Justice Ministry following his visit, Vujic said that Mladic’s health condition is “serious” and “requires serious medical treatment”, requesting his release for treatment on humanitarian grounds.

“All conditions for this are in place, and we as a state will provide additional guarantees if necessary,” Vujic said.

He said that “any further detention constitutes a violation of international law and international standards established by the (United Nations) Mandela Rules, as well as one of the fundamental principles that punishment must not be revenge.”

Vujic announced that the issue would also be raised before the UN, the Human Rights Committee, and the Committee Against Torture and Inhuman Treatment, stating that there are “elements of inhuman treatment”.

The UN war crimes court in The Hague rejected at the end of July last year Mladic’s request for urgent release and transfer to Serbia on health grounds.

In a decision published on the court’s website, the court stated that Mladic’s health condition, although uncertain, is stable and that he is receiving adequate care in the detention facility in The Hague.

The specific medical conditions of the 83-year-old former general are redacted in court papers but he is known to suffer cognitive impairments and was hospitalised at least twice, according to earlier court hearings and documents.

"Uncontradicted medical opinions indicate that Mladic is nearing the end of his life, a fate that is human," MICT president Graciela Gatti Santana was quoted as saying in the ruling.She added, however, that the former general does not have an acute terminal illness which could justify his release, Reuters reported at the time.