"He is seriously ill" - Serbian President Vučić asks the Hague tribunal to release Ratko Mladić

2026-04-23 21:36:14Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

"He is seriously ill" - Serbian President Vučić asks the Hague

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated today that the health condition of former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, Ratko Mladić, who is serving a sentence for war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina in The Hague, is very serious and that he does not understand why he is not allowed to "spend his last days outside his prison cell."

"I was informed by Justice Minister Nenad Vujic that his condition is very serious. He was unable to sit up, was taken to the hospital in a lying position and was only able to respond briefly. I don't understand why someone is not allowed to spend their last days outside their prison cell. But am I surprised? No," Vucic told reporters in Belgrade.

Ratko Mladic is one of the most notorious military figures of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995, as commander of the Army of Republika Srpska. He became one of the most wanted men by international justice for crimes committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which left tens of thousands of victims and a deep humanitarian crisis in the region.

In 2017, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague found Mladic guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including the Srebrenica massacre, considered the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mladic reportedly suffered a stroke on April 10 and has been in the detention hospital in The Hague since then, where he is being treated under medical supervision. His condition is reported to be serious and unstable, raising discussions about the possibility of treating him outside of his prison cell in the final stages of his life.


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