Mladic is fit enough to stand trial in The Hague, say Belgrade judges

Former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic has been declared fit to be extradited from Serbia to face trial in The Hague by a court in Belgrade on Friday, the BBC reports.


His legal team says the general is in poor health and that they will appeal against the extradition on Monday.
Mladic – who was arrested on Thursday following 16 years on the run – faces genocide charges over the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
Tribunal
His lawyer has already said Mladic will not recognise the legitimacy of the UN Yugoslavia tribunal in The Hague when he is transferred there to stand trial
The general is accused of being behind the massacre of at least 7,500 Bosnian Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995. The enclave was under the protection of Dutch troops at the time.
A spokeswoman for families of Srebrenica victims, Hajra Catic, told news agency AFP: ‘After 16 years of waiting, for us, the victims’ families, this is a relief.’
Relatives of some of the victims last year started legal action against three Dutch military officials for failing to protect their loved ones during the siege.
European Union
The Netherlands had made the capture of Mladic an important condition for its support for Serbian membership of the European Union. Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic was captured in 2008.
Prime minister Mark Rutte said on Thursday the arrest did not mean automatic entry for Serbia into the EU. ‘You need to look at all the facts around every accession,’ he told public radio.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation