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Nerma Jelacic, ICTY spokeswoman, told Balkan Insight: “The tribunal is awaiting now notification from the Serbian authorities about the timing of his transfer which we hope will be expeditious. However we understand that there are number of legal procedures that have to be followed before he can be extradited.
“Once he is in our custody he will be put into the detention unit and initial appearance will be scheduled at which he will be expected to enter a plea on each of the accounts of the indictment,” she explained.
Just like any other indictee before the Tribunal, Mladic is assumed innocent until his guilt has been proved.
Mladic’s arrest is a turning point in the Tribunal’s history. It helps it come closer to the successful completion of its mandate, with 160 out of 161 indictees arrested so far. Goran Hadzic is the only remaining fugitive. The Tribunal hopes that he will be arrested in the near future.
The Hague Tribunal’s mandate expires in 2014. At the end of 2010 the United Nations decided to establish a residual mechanism for international criminal courts, whose task will be to carry on the Tribunal’s tasks after the completion of its mandate.
M.T.
