Serbia’s Justice Minister Nenad Vujic has once again called for the release of the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic. On Tuesday, he asked the UN war crimes court in The Hague to consider a new request by the family of the former Bosnian Serb military leader. Vujic made the plea in a letter to Graciela Gatti Santana, the president of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, IRMCT. It follows last week’s decision by the IRMCT to reject a request by Mladic’s defence for conditional early release and transfer to Serbia on health grounds. Vujic noted a report by the medical officer at the detention unit in The Hague stating that Mladic had entered the final phase of his life, after a rapid decline in his health. The minister argued that, under these circumstances, Mladic should be allowed to spend his final days in Serbia.
The government has offered to transfer him to Belgrade’s Military Medical Academy and accept restrictions and monitoring imposed by the court. In last week’s decision rejecting an early release, the IRMCT ruled that Mladic was receiving comprehensive medical care and assistance, as well as an exceptional visitation regime allowing meaningful contact with his family. It said that his condition alone did not justify humanitarian early release, given the gravity of his genocide conviction and life sentence. The court stressed that it would continue to protect Mladic’s fundamental rights and dignity.
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