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Mladic On Plane For Hague After Appeal Rejected

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 31.05.2011 15:08
By RFE/RL

Serbian authorities have confirmed that Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic is aboard a plan on his way to The Hague for trial for alleged war crimes.

Serbian judges rejected the longtime fugitive's appeal against extradition to the UN tribunal hours earlier, clearing the way for an immediate transfer.

Serbian Justice Minister Snezana Malovic confirmed the extradition of the 69-year-old Mladic, who is still revered by some Serbs and whose capture was seen as a key step toward Serbia's improved standing in the region and its integration with Europe.

"With the extradition of Ratko Mladic to The Hague, Republic of Serbia has fulfilled [our] moral and international obligation and we have proved that we meet our commitments," Malovic told a press conference. "Our action represents a clear confirmation that Serbia is sincerely devoted towards completing its cooperation with the [International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)]."

Minutes earlier, television images had shown a convoy departing from the court where Mladic was being held in Belgrade.

Serbia's deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric had said that Mladic, who spent nearly 16 years on the run from international justice, would be handed over "as soon as possible."

"Bringing Mladic to justice, it is a satisfaction to the victims and families of all who have been victims of the crimes for which he has been charged before the ICTY," Malovic said. "At the same time, this act represents a message relevant [to] the process of reconciliation in the region."

Not Over Yet

Earlier on May 31, Mladic was taken under police guard to a Belgrade cemetery to visit the grave of his daughter, who committed suicide in 1994.

Mladic is accused of orchestrating the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys at a UN "safe haven," as well as other atrocities during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

"It is still a very serious, very complex indictment with very complex charges," ICTY spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic told Reuters. "We now have two charges of genocide instead of one to cover the first year of the war, May 1992 to May 1993 in the first charge, and the second one, obviously, to cover the July 1995 genocide in Srebrenica."

He was arrested last week in a village north of Belgrade.

His lawyers tried to argue that Mladic was too aged and infirm to stand trial, a claim that prosecutors have rejected as a delaying tactic.

Another prominent war crimes defendant and former close ally of Mladic, onetime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, was captured in 2008 and is standing trial before the ICTY.

The ICTY issued a statement after Mladic's capture in which it called "the arrest of Mladić...a milestone in the Tribunal’s history and brings the institution closer to the successful completion of its mandate, with Goran Hadžić remaining the sole fugitive out of a total of 161 indictees."

The tribunal added that proceedings continue for 34 accused war criminals, and that 126 such proceedings have been concluded.

based on agency and RFE/RL reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/mladics_ extradition_appeal_rejected/24210872.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.