Serbian President Blames The Hague Tribunal for Mladić's Death in Prison

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić sharply criticized international justice following the death of Ratko Mladić, who died on Thursday in a prison in The Hague. According to Vučić, the refusal to release the convicted general was an "uncivilized, unprecedented and unforgivable" decision. "Now we can see that they wanted Mladić to die behind bars," he said on Friday.

Who Was Ratko Mladić

Mladić, known as the "Butcher of the Balkans" for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, was convicted in 2017 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The court found him guilty of genocide in connection with Srebrenica, of terrorizing civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, of crimes against humanity, and of ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian War of 1992–1995.

Release Request Denied

The tribunal itself has since ceased to exist, but its functions were taken over by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. It was this body to which Mladić's relatives and the Serbian government submitted requests for his release. The most recent one was rejected by the court just last week — the court's president, Graciela Gatti Santana, explained the decision by noting that Mladić had access to proper medical care and a special visitation arrangement that allowed him to see his family.

Funeral and Reaction in the Republika Srpska

Serbs in several towns and churches across the Republika Srpska, part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, held tributes to Mladić's memory. According to local media, Serbia's Justice Minister Nenad Vujić said on Friday that Mladić would be buried with the highest military and state honors, though Vučić himself did not confirm this information.

"If the family wishes for him to be buried on Serbian territory, we will help make that happen in a dignified manner," the Serbian president said, adding that the decision on the burial site would be made by the family. He noted that Belgrade does not yet have information on when Mladić's body might be released to his relatives.

Source: novinky.cz