November 16, 11

NEWS / UN tribunal orders medical examination of former Bosnian Serb military chief

16 November 2011 –
The United Nations tribunal set up in the wake of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s today ordered a medical examination of Ratko Mladic, the former head of the Bosnian Serb armed forces who is being tried on genocide charges, to assess whether he is fit for trial.

The trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) requested the examination to determine whether and to what extent Mr. Mladic’s health condition would affect the preparation of his upcoming trial, as the state of his health has been raised on several occasions in court and in several filings by the defence and prosecutors.

By conducting the examination, the Chamber stated it would be able to substantiate or deny claims of Mr. Mladic’s deteriorating health and would allow it to better evaluate future motions on requests made in relation to this topic.

The tribunal stressed that the assessment was necessary as it could not base its findings on Mr. Mladic’s health on media reports or other similar sources.

The assessment would provide an overall picture of Mr. Mladic’s health, including his medical history and background.

According to a news release issued by the ICTY, the medical report would need to be submitted no later than 6 December, in time for the next status conference in the case.

Mr. Mladic was arrested in May after 16 years on the run. According to the indictment, forces under his command committed genocide when they executed more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in July 1995. Mr. Mladic is also charged for genocide crimes committed in eastern and north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40416&Cr=icty&Cr1=