In a motion filed on the U.N. court’s website, defence lawyers for Ratko Mladic have requested the release of their client to Serbia on medical grounds. Mladic, who is 82 years old and has been residing in the U.N. detention center in The Hague since his final conviction on appeal in 2021, has experienced cognitive impairments and has been hospitalized at least twice this year due to an undisclosed but potentially life-threatening condition.
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 massacring 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.