‘Mladic in Scheveningen within 10 days’ to face war crimes tribunal

Former Bosnian general Ratko Mladic will be brought to a high security jail in Scheveningen near The Hague within nine or 10 days, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Aston said on Thursday.


Mladic’s extradition hearing on Thursday after his arrest was halted because of fears about his health. The hearing will resume on Friday.
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
Serbian president Boris Tadic confirmed the arrest of Mladic at a news conference. 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.
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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.
See also
Arrest Mladic a good day for the Netherlands

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