Serbia pressures International Tribunal for conditional release of Ratko Mladic on humanitarian grounds

The Republic of Serbia cannot ignore the fact that, according to medical findings by the Mechanism itself, general Ratko Mladic is in the final stage of life, stated Minister of Justice Nenad Vujic in a written statement, adding that medical treatment options are very limited and care is now primarily palliative.

Vujic welcomed the decision by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals to facilitate maximum access for Mladic's family visits, but noted that visiting a dying family member is not the same as the opportunity to spend his final days in closer and more enduring proximity to his loved ones at a hospital in Serbia.

He emphasized that Serbia did not request for Mladic to be released to his home, but expressed readiness to organize a medical transfer to the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade, as well as to accept monitoring, medical reporting, movement restrictions, and other conditions deemed necessary by the Mechanism.

The fact that two out of five judges supported release on humanitarian grounds speaks to the validity of the arguments presented in the letter to the Mechanism, Vujic stated.

Ratko Mladic was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Alongside Mladic, former Republika Srpska president Radovan Karadzic was also sentenced to life imprisonment for the genocide in Srebrenica, alongside three additional life sentences handed down by the court.