Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, who is currently serving a life sentence in the U.N. detention center in The Hague for his involvement in the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, is requesting an urgent release to Serbia on medical grounds. In a motion filed on the U.N. court’s website, his lawyers are asking judges to allow him to seek treatment for an undisclosed but potentially life-threatening condition. Mladic, who is 82 years old, has experienced cognitive impairments and has been hospitalized at least twice this year.
Known as the “butcher of the Balkans”, Mladic led Bosnian Serb forces during Bosnia’s war and was found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. These crimes included terrorizing the civilian population of Sarajevo during a siege and the massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.
Mladic’s lawyers argue that he can receive specialized medical treatment in Serbia for his illness and being in the country would eliminate language barriers that currently hinder communication. The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), which oversees Mladic’s case, has not yet indicated when they will make a decision on the release application.