DARKO MLADIĆ: WHAT IS BEING DONE TO CONVICTED SERBS IS A DISGRACE FOR THE UN

BELGRADE, August 15 /SRNA/ - Darko Mladić, son of General Ratko Mladić, said that what Serbs convicted in The Hague are going through amounts to classic torture, that some of them in prisons in third countries have not left their cells for years, and that what is being done is a disgrace for the UN.

Given that the Hague Mechanism is extremely harsh towards General Mladić and other Serbs, Darko Mladić stated that the only way to ensure their rights would be to have them transferred to their home country, as recently suggested by Russian Foreign Ministry official Aleksei Fadeev. "This is indeed the solution to the problem, because the sentence handed down by the Hague court would remain in place, but the inhumane treatment would end," Darko Mladić told Večernje novosti. He noted that certain countries with significant influence over the Tribunal have a clear interest in treating Serbs with exceptional cruelty, pointing to procedural violations and the changing of rules on a case-by-case basis. "My father was denied medical release on grounds that have never before been applied to others who were granted release for similar illnesses," said Darko Mladić. He recalled that for years, convicts were granted conditional release after serving two-thirds of their sentence, a well-established European standard, but that a few years ago, political influence shifted and since then no Serb has been released after serving two-thirds of their term. Darko Mladić also stressed that much of what concerns the Hague court has nothing to do with law, but with politics. "My father is officially not in solitary confinement, but in practice he is. For a year and a half he has been alone in a room, bedridden and unable to speak to anyone because no one knows his language. They claim he is receiving appropriate care, yet he is deteriorating most from lying down," he said. He emphasized that if his father were in a hospital in Serbia, he would be rehabilitated and able to walk. "In the prison hospital, they did not have the technical means to rehabilitate him, and despite our numerous appeals and warnings, the court ignored everything and stuck to its clichés. I hope that those who are still alive in prisons abroad will be able to return to their own countries to serve their sentences," said Darko Mladić. He recalled that it was decided that Hague convicts would serve their sentences in third countries because, in 1993, when the Tribunal was established, war was ongoing in BiH. "The Russians are well aware of what is happening to Serbian Hague convicts and how their basic human rights are being violated. This is not only about my father, but also others, such as Radovan Karadžić and Nebojša Pavković, who, as I have heard, is in extremely poor condition, yet is not allowed to receive medical treatment in freedom. What is being done is a disgrace for the UN, and everyone knows what is going on," Darko Mladić concluded.