Mladic refuses to enter plea at tribunal

Former Bosnian Serb Military Leader Ratko Mladic at the International Criminal Tribunal

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At his first appearance before an international court in The Hague, Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb commander, refused to enter a plea to what he called “obnoxious” charges of genocide and war crimes.

It took Alphons Orie, presiding judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, more than 20 minutes to read out a “short summary” of the 37-page indictment against General Mladic. Asked whether he wanted to enter a plea or postpone the trial for up to 30 days, Gen Mladic asked for even more time.

“I need more than a month for these monstrous words, ones I’ve never heard before,” Gen Mladic said. “I’ve never heard of any such thing.”

Dressed in a grey suit and tie, Gen Mladic appeared gruff but composed as Judge Orie summarised the war crimes he allegedly committed during the 1991-95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 11 counts include ethnic cleansing of Muslim and Croat areas, the shelling of civilians in Sarajevo, taking UN peacekeepers hostage, and the massacre of more than 7000 Muslim men and boys after the fall of Srebrenica in 1995.

After declining to enter a plea, Gen Mladic was granted a request to move the court into private session to make statements regarding his medical condition. Before his extradition to The Hague on May 31 he had appealed not to be extradited from Serbia on the grounds of ill health, and his lawyer in Serbia says he is suffering from cancer of the lymph nodes.

Gen Mladic is being represented in his initial appearance by the court-appointed Serbian lawyer Aleksander Aleksic. He has not yet stated whether he wishes to represent himself or choose another counsel.

Outside the courtroom, half a dozen Bosnian Muslim women carried signs bearing Gen Mladic’s photo and the legend “mass murderer”. The women belonged to the 6000-member victims’ organisation Mothers of Srebrenica.

“It’s very important that Mladic be judged,” said Suhra Sinanovic, who travelled from the Bosnian town of Bratunac to witness the trial. She said her husband was killed at Srebrenica in July of 1995.

Based on earlier cases, it may take a year before the Mladic trial begins. Prosecutors are reportedly considering joining parts of his trial with that of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who has been on trial here since 2009.

There have also been recommendations that some of the charges be separated and expedited to preclude the possibility that Gen Mladic dies before a verdict is reached.

“I think it’s very important that at least you cover Srebrenica and maybe Sarajevo, and maybe you don’t have to do all the details,” said Axel Hagedorn, the lawyer representing the Mothers of Srebrenica. “Because you have to speed up the case. The most important thing is that there is a trial and that it will finish before he dies.”