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Former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic refused to answer questions about the war at Radovan Karadzic’s trial, condemning the Hague Tribunal as the “devil’s court”.
Mladic refused to reply to his former political leader Karadzic’s questions on Tuesday, despite being ordered to appear as a defence witness by the international court, claiming poor health and fears that he could damage his own war crimes defence at the Hague Tribunal.
“I cannot stand this court and I do not recognise it, so I cannot testify or make an oath, because you are pressuring me and my people,” Mladic began by saying.
After finally taking the oath and requesting a break because he had forgotten his false teeth, Mladic only replied in detail to the first question that he was asked by Karadzic, about his personal and military background.
“I am 71 years old and I have had many military positions… This is the only question I will answer. I am refusing to answer the rest of the questions because of my poor health and because I have the right as a defendant,” he said.
Karadzic went on to ask Mladic whether the former Bosnian Serb commander had ever informed him that captives from Srebrenica had been or would be killed, and whether he knew that people in Sarajevo were being subjected to a sniping and shelling campaign.
He also asked about the reasons for the attacks on Sarajevo, whether those reasons were conveyed to him and whether Karadzic and Mladic ever had an agreement to expel Bosniaks and Croats from territories controlled by Serb forces.
But Mladic repeatedly responded that he could not give an answer because of his poor health and his defence in his own trial.
Mladic had prepared a seven-page document that he wanted to read in the courtroom, but the Hague Tribunal judges refused to allow him to do so.
In response to this, the ex-general said the Tribunal was a “devil’s court”, a “NATO court”, and a court created only to prosecute Serbs.
Karadzic and Mladic were appearing together in the Hague courtroom for the first time on Tuesday.
Standing a few metres apart, the two men spoke to each other with respect. Karadzic addressed Mladic as “Mr. General”, while Mladic called Karadzic “Mr. President”.
Mladic said that he and Karadzic were “not defending ourselves, but the Serb people”, and adding that he thought highly of his former political leader’s “efforts to save our people”.
Thy are both on trial, in separate cases, for genocide in Srebrenica and seven other municipalities, persecution of the Bosniak and Croat population throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, terrorising the citizens of Sarajevo and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.
In December last year the Tribunal issued a warrant obliging Mladic to testify after he had previously refused Karadzic’s invitation to do so.
Mladic’s defence attorney Branko Lukic again told the Tribunal on Tuesday morning that his client was not capable of testifying for health reasons. However, presiding judge O-Gon Kwon said that the court believed he was well enough to appear.
