Ratko Mladic, the notorious Bosnian Serb general who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, is seeking an urgent release from the United Nations court to return to Serbia on health grounds. His lawyers have filed a motion with the court arguing that he requires specialized medical treatment in his homeland for a potentially life-threatening condition.
Mladic has been known to suffer from cognitive impairments and has been hospitalized twice this year due to his illness. Despite his conviction, his lawyers argue that he can receive better care in Serbia and that language barriers will be eliminated by returning home. They also point out that Mladic’s role as a leader of Bosnian Serb forces during the war makes him a high-profile case, and they believe that being back in Serbia would provide him with more privacy and security.
As a former leader of Bosnian Serb forces during the war, Mladic has been referred to as “the butcher of the Balkans.” His crimes include terrorizing civilians in Sarajevo during a siege and massacring more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995. The court papers do not provide details about Mladic’s specific health condition.
The judges at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) will now decide on Mladic’s application for release. Until then, he remains detained in The Hague where he has lived since his final conviction on appeal in 2021.
Mladic’s lawyers are requesting that their client be released immediately so he can seek medical treatment in Serbia without further delay. However, many argue that Mladic should remain behind bars until he completes his sentence for his crimes committed during the Bosnian war.
The IRMCT will now review the application carefully before making a decision on whether or not to grant it. The fate of Ratko Mladic remains uncertain as he continues to await trial for his role in one of Europe’s darkest conflicts.
