He was a devoted Yugoslav soldier, then a war crimes suspect on the run - now former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic awaits his final court verdict for the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II.
The UN court in The Hague rejected former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic’s request for the final verdict in his trial to be postponed because one of his lawyers will not be able to attend the hearing.
The former Bosnian Serb military chief’s defence asked for the final verdict in his trial to be postponed because one of his lawyers will not be able to attend the hearing at the UN court in The Hague.
The head of the UN court said the final verdict in the trial of former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic, who is appealing against his conviction for genocide and other crimes, will be handed down in May.
The UN war crimes tribunal rejected a call from Ratko Mladic’s defence for the former Bosnian Serb Army commander to be urgently transferred from the United Nations Detention Unit to a hospital for treatment.
Prosecutors appealed to the UN court to convict former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic of committing genocide in five Bosnian municipalities in 1995 as well as the Srebrenica genocide in 1995.
Former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic told the UN court in The Hague that his health was “very bad and worsening” as his defence argued that his appeal against conviction should only be held after medical assessments.
The UN court will hear the former Bosnian Serb military chief’s appeal next month against the verdict convicting him of genocide and other wartime crimes, after it was postponed for Mladic to have an operation and delayed again because of the pandemic.
Prosecutors at the UN court in The Hague asked for the appeal against the verdict convicting former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic to be rescheduled quickly after it was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ratko Mladic’s defence called for the former Bosnian Serb Army commander to be transferred urgently from the United Nations Detention Unit to a hospital in The Hague because his health has continued to deteriorate.