DARKO MLADIĆ: URGENT REQUEST SUBMITTED FOR GENERAL'S MEDICAL TRANSFER

BELGRADE, APRIL 24 /SRNA/ – The family of General Ratko Mladić and his lawyer Dragan Ivetić have submitted a request to the Hague-based Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals for his urgent release for treatment in Serbia due to his extremely serious health condition, the general's son Darko Mladić told SRNA.

Darko Mladić said the tribunal has no fixed deadline to decide on the request, but expressed hope that a decision would be made as soon as possible, as his father is in critical condition, a view shared by all doctors. He specified that the request, submitted yesterday, includes reports by Serbian doctors who examined General Mladić this week, as well as by UN doctors in the detention unit in The Hague, along with the relevant legal standards and examples of similar cases. "This request differs in that my father's health condition is even worse. It was already very poor and, under legal standards, he should have been released earlier. The difference now is that both sides agree he is in a critical condition - both UN and domestic doctors," Darko Mladić said. If the Mechanism approves his release for treatment, he expects that the general could be transferred to a hospital in Serbia very quickly. He explained that the return procedure presumes organizing special medical transport, with the Serbian authorities ready to assist in all aspects. Republika Srpska Minister of Justice Goran Selak said that both Republika Srpska and Serbia are prepared to provide guarantees if approval is granted for Mladić to continue treatment in his home country. General Ratko Mladić suffered a stroke on April 10, and his condition has further deteriorated, as he suffers from serious neurological, cardiovascular and kidney problems. He has been in the detention hospital for two full years, and bedridden for the past year and a half, while the Hague Mechanism has refused to grant him temporary release for treatment. Former commander of the Main Staff of the Republika Srpska Army, General Ratko Mladić, has been in the detention hospital in The Hague since 2024, where he is under palliative care due to his serious health condition.