BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic on Friday accused a war crimes U.N. court in The Hague of “uncivilized behavior” for refusing to grant an early release for the former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic, who died Thursday at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence for his crimes.
The U.N. tribunal for war crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s sentenced Mladic to life in prison in 2017 in what was considered a key step toward bringing justice to the victims. He had been in custody since 2011. Mladic’s family and the Serbian government had requested several times that Mladic be released, citing his age and ailing health.
20 ruling, the president of the U.N. court that deals with the legacies of now-closed war crimes tribunals, Uruguayan Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, cited the “comprehensive and compassionate medical care” Mladic was receiving in custody “as well as the exceptional visitation regime allowing meaningful family contact” as reasons for turning down the request. But the families of the victims of crimes Mladic orchestrated said his death means at least some justice for their loved ones. The court, formally known as the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, said in an emailed response to questions from The Associated Press that it would not give any information on the cause of death before the inquiry is completed.
He died a week after the U.N. rejected his latest request for release on humanitarian grounds. In an Aug. The U.N. court on Thursday opened an inquiry into Mladic’s death, and on Friday, the judge conducting the inquiry visited the detention center where he was held.
It added that “the relevant Dutch authorities have officially informed the Mechanism that they are not opening a criminal investigation into Mr. Mladic’s death and that they will not be performing an autopsy.”
