GENERAL MLADIĆ'S MEDICAL RECORDS WITHHELD FROM SERBIAN DOCTORS

BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 10 /SRNA/ - The health condition of General Ratko Mladić remains unchanged, and during a recent visit to the general at the detention hospital in The Hague, Serbian doctors were not given access to his medical documentation, which, according to his son Darko Mladić, was handed over just a day later to a doctor engaged by The Hague Tribunal.

"I visited my father with my daughter last week. Our doctors submitted their reports, which we documented. Unfortunately, their visit was very short. They were given only an hour and a half and were not provided with the complete medical records," said Darko Mladić. He pointed out that it was interesting that just one day after the Serbian doctors’ visit, a neurologist engaged by The Hague Tribunal as an independent expert examined General Mladić, and, unlike the Serbian specialists, was given access to 36 pages of medical records. "It is unclear why this material is being withheld from our doctors," Mladić emphasized. The Serbian doctors, he added, noted the problems that already exist and are worsening. “He’s holding on as best he can. He has neurological and cardiovascular issues, kidney problems, diabetes, bedsores, osteomyelitis /a bone infection/ as a result of those bedsores, and cognitive difficulties,” he said. Darko Mladić reminded that the general has been under palliative care since May. “That means they’ve given up on any treatment. He hasn’t stood on his feet for more than a year, not even with the help of a physiotherapist,” Mladić said. Darko added that his father recognizes him and that they talked during the last visit. According to him, the general is still immobile and either confined to bed or in a wheelchair. The former commander of the Republika Srpska Army, General Ratko Mladić, has suffered several strokes while in The Hague detention unit and hospital, and is experiencing neurological, cardiovascular, and urological problems that are progressively worsening and becoming more complicated. Last year, a pacemaker was implanted in one of the Dutch hospitals, but his health condition has continued to deteriorate, and since then, his kidneys have also failed. The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals rejected an urgent request from General Ratko Mladić’s defense for temporary or conditional early release due to his poor health condition. General Mladić was arrested on May 26, 2011, in Lazarevo near Zrenjanin, and in 2021, The Hague Tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment in a final verdict.