GENERAL MLADIĆ'S HEALTH CONDITION DETERIORATING

BELGRADE, OCTOBER 21 /SRNA/ – Medical reports on Serb General Ratko Mladić, who is immobile and currently hospitalized in The Hague, indicate his health condition is worsening, and if anything happens to him, there will be no attempt at resuscitation, his son Darko Mladić told SRNA.

"The reports show that his health condition is worse than before. Unfortunately, this is something we expected, even though the Tribunal engages experts who seem to be tasked with issuing inaccurate reports to downplay the seriousness of the situation," Darko said, commenting on a recent visit by Serbian doctors to the general in The Hague hospital. He stated that General Mladić's health continues to deteriorate in all aspects, including cognitively, and that infections the Tribunal previously declared they were cured have returned. "The prognosis is that he is at the end of his life. Even the doctors in the Dutch detention facility don't deny this. They also believe his prognosis is extremely poor, even in the short term," Darko said. In contrast to the case of General Nebojša Pavković, who died shortly after being released due to a serious illness, something medicine predicted, Darko said that in Mladić's case, the condition is not so clearly defined, and the Hague Tribunal is exploiting this. "They claim it's not an acute-terminal illness. But what does that mean, do they need to be 200% sure he'll die very soon in order to release him? That's essentially a death sentence. They won't allow him to be transferred for treatment where his life could potentially be extended, even for a short period," Darko added. He reminded that General Mladić recently underwent a minor surgical procedure to remove part of his heel, which had been affected by an infection. "When they were rejecting our requests, their experts claimed that the osteomyelitis /bone infection/ had been cured. Clearly, it hadn't. Their report from June, where they claimed everything was fine, has now been completely discredited. But it seems they don’t care anymore," said Darko. He emphasized that General Mladić is now completely immobile. "The question now is whether we could even bring him back, and even if we would bring him here, whether we could get him back on his feet," he said. Darko added that the hospital in The Hague has switched General Mladić to palliative care, meaning he is no longer being treated, but only with pain killers. "They've reduced interventions. If something happens to him, they won't even attempt resuscitation. These are all extremely troubling issues for us. At some point, they were given permission that this is possible, and now they are ignoring it, i.e. they have stated that in the worst-case scenario, he would not be resuscitated," said Darko, reminding that both the general and his family had previously opposed this. He reminded that the reports by Serbian doctors, who examined Mladić in the Hague hospital, have still not been filed. General Mladić has survived several strokes while in detention and the hospital in The Hague. He suffers from neurological, cardiovascular, and urological problems that are progressively worsening and becoming more complicated. Last year, a pacemaker was implanted in a Dutch hospital, but his health has continued to deteriorate, and since then, his kidneys have failed. The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals has rejected an urgent request from General Ratko Mladić's defence team for temporary or conditional early release due to poor health. General Mladić was arrested on May 26, 2011, in Lazarevo near Zrenjanin, and was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Hague Tribunal in a 2021final verdict.