Mladic In The Hague For War Crimes Trial
By VOA
Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic is in prison in The Hague, Netherlands, where he will stand trial before the International War Crimes Tribunal.
Serbian authorities put Mladic on a plane Tuesday after judges turned down his appeal against extradition. Another court ruled earlier that Mladic is healthy enough to face a trial, rejecting his lawyer’s argument that he is too sick.
Before leaving Serbia, police escorted him to a Belgrade cemetery so he could visit the grave of his daughter Ana, who committed suicide in 1994.
Mladic was the head of the Bosnian Serb military during Bosnia’s civil war in the early 1990s. The Hague tribunal has charged him with genocide, terrorism, and other crimes against humanity.
He is accused of the massacre of 8,000 Muslim males at what was supposed to be the U.N. safe haven of Srebrenica in 1995.
Serbian police arrested Mladic last week in the village of Lazarevo after 16 years on the run. Serbian President Boris Tadic said Tuesday his government is investigating whether Serbian officials helped hide Mladic.
Tadic said police arrested Mladic as soon as they were informed where he was.
At least 10,000 Bosnian Serb nationalists who regard Mladic as a hero marched Tuesday in the Bosnian Serb capital of Banja Luka to protest his arrest.
Meanwhile, the trial war crimes trial of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic resumed Tuesday in the Hague after a two-month recess. Karadzic is also charged with genocide and other crimes against humanity.
