VUJIĆ URGES SANTANA TO URGENTLY CONSIDER REQUEST FOR MLADIĆ’S EARLY RELEASE TO SERBIA

BELGRADE, AUGUST 24 /SRNA/ - Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujić sent a letter to Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, appealing to her to consider the new request from General Ratko Mladić’s family for his early release.

Vujić stressed that Serbia remains ready at any time to provide medical transport, an appropriate medical team, and any other arrangements that the Mechanism may deem necessary. He expressed deep regret over the August 20 decision rejecting the request for General Mladić’s early release on humanitarian grounds. Given the exceptional humanitarian circumstances, which have also been confirmed by the Mechanism’s own medical service, he stressed that General Mladić has not been allowed to spend the final days of his life in Serbia, where he could receive continuous institutional medical care and appropriate palliative care while being much closer to his family. “The question is no longer whether Ratko Mladić is seriously ill. The Mechanism’s medical reports confirm that he has entered the final stage of his life, that the options for further medical treatment are extremely limited and that death may occur at any time. In such circumstances, humanity and respect for inherent human dignity must be paramount,” Vujić said. He pointed out that appropriate medical care in detention is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for the humane treatment of a person who is in the final days of his life. Citing Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Mandela Rules, Minister Vujić stressed that human dignity cannot be reduced solely to the quality of medical treatment, but that, in the final stage of life, the human environment and the possibility of meaningful and continuous contact with one’s immediate family are of particular importance. He recalled that Serbia had proposed the immediate transfer of General Mladić to the Military Medical Academy /VMA/ in Belgrade, where he could receive continuous, appropriate specialized medical and palliative care, with his family constantly by his side. “Serbia has reiterated its readiness to accept all restrictions, as well as regular medical reporting, immediate notification of any change in his health condition, appropriate access restrictions, and any other measure that the Mechanism deems necessary,” Vujić stressed. In the letter, he also referred to the views of Mechanism judges Alphons Orie and Prisca Matimba Nyambe, who believe that an immediate threat to life constitutes a decisive humanitarian circumstance and that the interests of justice and general legal principles do not preclude release in such exceptional circumstances. “A sentence may deprive a person of their liberty, but it cannot deprive them of their inherent human dignity. When the remaining time of a person’s life is no longer measured in years or months, but in days, the humanitarian dimension must be given the greatest possible weight. Justice and humanity are not opposing principles,” the Serbian justice minister stressed. He emphasized that, at this stage, time was no longer a neutral factor. “A humanitarian measure taken only when it can no longer serve its purpose would inevitably come too late, which is why his release is urgently needed. Respect for inherent human dignity must remain an obligation until the very last moment,” he concluded.