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Serbian Police Arrest War Crimes Fugitive Ratko Mladic

26.05.2011 12:32

By RFE/RL

The UN war crimes tribunal's most-wanted fugitive, former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic, has been arrested in Serbia, after more than 15 years on the run.

Serbian President Boris Tadic confirmed the arrest at a hastily called press conference in Belgrade, saying Mladic was apprehended "on Serbian soil" this morning.

Unnamed police officials told local media that he had been found in the village of Lazarevo, some 100 kilometers northeast of the capital.

Reuters quotes a police official as saying Mladic was found in a farmhouse owned by a relative.

Also according to police, and confirmed by villagers who spoke to The Associated Press, the arrest was carried out swiftly and quietly.

Belgrade's B-92 radio quotes Serbian Interior Ministry officials as saying Mladic was going by the name of Milorad Komadic.

Speaking to reporters, Tadic said the extradition process already is under way to send Mladic to the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague.

The UN-backed court said Mladic’s transfer will take place after the completion of judicial proceedings required by Serbian law.

'Important Step'

The capture of Mladic was welcomed by the chief prosecutor for the UN war crimes tribunal, Serge Brammertz, who said Belgrade had "fulfilled one of its international obligations."

European Union foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton, who was in Serbia on May 26, called Mladic's capture "an important step forward for Serbia and for international justice,” and said her thoughts were with the victims of Mladic’s alleged war crimes.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also welcomed Mladic's arrest as "great news" in a brief BBC interview conducted on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France.

"Barroso said that during his visit to Belgrade the week before, he "had an extensive, very deep, sincere conversation with President Tadic, and he promised me that he'd do everything to arrest Mladic. So if this is the case, it means that he is keeping his word, so that we should trust Serbia's determination also to come closer to the European Union."

In other reactions, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the arrest "finally offers a chance for justice to be done," and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed the arrest as "a historic day for international justice."

And U.S. deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes called for Mladic's speedy extradition to The Hague for trial.

"And again, I think today our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims, of so many people who suffered under the violence and tyranny of Mladic," Rhodes said. "And I think today also underscores, however, that justice will come to those who carry out these types of crimes."

The 69-year-old Mladic is charged with war crimes and genocide during the Balkan wars of the 1990s -- including the 43-month siege of Sarajevo in which 12,000 people were killed, "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia, and orchestrating the massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys after the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995.

As the most infamous atrocity of the Balkan wars of the 1990s, the killings at Srebrenica were the largest act of mass murder in Europe since the Nazi Holocaust of World War II.

'Good For Serbia'

Tadic said Mladic's arrest is "good for Serbia" because it "closes a page" in the country's history -- opening new opportunities for cooperation with other countries in the region" and clearing the way for Serbia to become a member of the European Union.

He said the arrest and extradition of Mladic also helps "raise Serbia's moral credibility in the world."

"We are not making calculations on when and how to deliver [Mladic to The Hague]," Tadic said. "We are doing that because we truly believe this is in accordance with our law. This is because of our people -- Serbs. This is because of the moral dignity of our country and our people. But this is crucially important in terms of reconciliation between people that are living in the region of southeast Europe's former Yugoslavia."

Indeed, Mladic had been the main obstacle for Serbia to become a candidate for membership of the European Union, as officials in Brussels have refused to grant Serbia candidate status as long as Mladic remained at large.

EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele said that the arrest removed “a great obstacle on the Serbian road to the European Union.”

Tadic also said Mladic's arrest does not mark the end of Belgrade's cooperation with the UN tribunal. He said an investigation and search is continuing for "all of those who helped Mladic and other fugitive war crimes suspects" to evade capture.

He specified that the investigation would include the question of whether any members of Serbia's government were involved in hiding Mladic over the years.

The Search For Hadzic

Tadic also called for the search to continue for Goran Hadzic, the former president of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina -- a territory seized from Croatia by Serbs in rebellion against Croatia’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia.

Hadzic, who disappeared from his home in Serbia in 2004, faces 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in the murder of thousands of non-Serb civilians from Croatian territory from 1991 to 1993 -- including the 1991 massacre of 250 Croatian and non-Serb civilians from the Vukovar hospital in one of the first atrocities of the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

But Tadic also called for independent investigations into alleged crimes against humanity by other officials in the Balkans, including ethnic Albanian officials in Kosovo.

The Serbian president said more details on the circumstances of Mladic's arrest would be released after further investigations into his accomplices have been completed.

If Mladic is extradited to the tribunal at The Hague, his trial would be the biggest event for the UN war crimes court since the beginning of the case against former Yugoslav and Serbia President Slobodan Milosevic in 2002. Milosevic died in custody at The Hague in March 2006 before a verdict was reached.

Until the fall of Milosevic's regime in October 2000, Mladic had been seen regularly in Belgrade -- including public appearances at soccer matches and at exclusive restaurants.

Another high-profile war crimes suspect, Radovan Karadzic, was captured on a Belgrade bus in July 2008 wearing a disguise and then extradited to The Hague.

Dozens of people had been arrested and injured throughout Serbia following Karadzic’s arrest.

Serbian President Tadic said he would not allow a repeat of such violence.

A defense lawyer for Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb wartime political leader, said today that Mladic's arrest could become a factor in his client's trial.

Defense attorney Peter Robinson said Karadzic's case is only about 20 percent completed and that the judges may decide to try Mladic and Karadzic together.

Robinson said that Karadzic's defense team is now examining whether to continue the trial or to seek a halt in order to work together with Mladic's future defense team.

written by Ron Synovitz and Richard Solash, with agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ratko_mladic_arrested_serbia/24205597.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.