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Serbia requests release of war criminal Ratko Mladić
🇱🇹 Lithuania /Crime & Justice

Serbia requests release of war criminal Ratko Mladić

From Delfi · () Lithuanian

Translated from Lithuanian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified In the courts
  • Serbia has requested the release of war criminal Ratko Mladić from prison.
  • Mladić, 84, is serving a life sentence for genocide and war crimes committed during the Bosnian War.
  • His family's previous request for release due to illness was denied, but Serbia now seeks his transfer to a Belgrade military hospital.

Serbia has formally requested the release of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić, who is currently serving a life sentence in a Hague prison. The 84-year-old Mladić was found guilty in 2017 of genocide and war crimes during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

this is a silent murder of my father

— Darko MladićSpeaking to Serbian media about his father's condition and the request for transfer.

This is not the first attempt by Mladić's family to secure his release. Previously, they cited severe illness and a stroke in April, but the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) rejected their plea in May. The court concluded at the time that Mladić was receiving adequate medical care in prison.

In a renewed request, Serbia's Justice Minister Nenad Vujičić called for Mladić's transfer to a military hospital in Belgrade, according to a statement. Mladić's son, Darko Mladić, told Serbian media on Friday that "this is a silent murder of my father," alleging that prison doctors had "completely stopped treatment."

provocations

— Association of Mothers of SrebrenicaDescribing the repeated calls for Ratko Mladić's release.

Mladić, apprehended in Serbia in 2011, had his sentence upheld on appeal in 2021. Among the crimes for which he was convicted is the 1995 massacre of approximately 8,000 Bosnian men and boys in the eastern Srebrenica region. The Association of Mothers of Srebrenica, whose sons were killed in the massacre, condemned the repeated calls for Mladić's release as "provocations," stating that his freedom would constitute "a great injustice."

a great injustice

— Association of Mothers of SrebrenicaStating the consequence if Ratko Mladić were to be released.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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