FILMING OF DOCUMENTARY ABOUT GENERAL MLADIĆ NEARING COMPLETION

BELGRADE, APRIL 30 /SRNA/ – Darko Mladić, the son of General Ratko Mladić, told SRNA that the filming of a documentary about his father's life is nearing completion, featuring testimonies from his comrades, friends, relatives, and many others.

He says that filming has been ongoing for seven to eight years, that he has mostly financed it himself, and that funds are still needed for editing. He points out that the film about the general’s life and career was shot in various locations in Republika Srpska, Serbia, and North Macedonia. Darko Mladić says that filming of some foreign participants is also planned, if he manages to reach them, after which the editing process will follow and will last several months. He adds that it is too early to say where the film will premiere, and that he has not yet considered the marketing aspect, which will come after editing. "We need funding to complete all of this. Film is an expensive undertaking if you want to produce quality material," said Darko Mladić. He graduated from the Military-Industrial School in Zemun, and from the Military Academy and the Command and Staff Academy as the top student in his class. He began his officer career in 1965 in Skopje, where he advanced to the position of head of training for the 3rd Military District of the Yugoslav People’s Army /JNA/. In early January 1991, he became assistant commander of the Priština Corps, and by the end of June of the same year he moved to Knin. In early March 1992, by order of the Chief of the General Staff of the JNA, Blagoje Adžić, he left his post in Knin for Sarajevo, where he took over duties from General Milutin Kukanjac and became commander of the 2nd Military District of the JNA headquartered in Sarajevo. At that time, he was extraordinarily promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. On May 12, 1992, by decision of the Republika Srpska National Assembly, and upon the proposal of President Radovan Karadžić, General Mladić was appointed commander of the Main Staff of the Republika Srpska Army, a position he held until 1996. He was regularly promoted to the rank of colonel general on June 24, 1994. He was retired on February 28, 2001, by decree of the then President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Vojislav Koštunica. The Hague Prosecutor's Office indicted him in 1995 for war crimes in BiH, and he was arrested on May 26, 2011, in Lazarevo near Zrenjanin, after which he was extradited to the Hague Tribunal. The trial against General Mladić began at the Hague Tribunal on June 3, 2011, and in July 2022 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity in BiH. Since 2024, General Mladić has been held in the detention hospital in The Hague, where he is receiving palliative care due to serious health conditions. The Mechanism has repeatedly rejected requests for his temporary release for medical treatment in Serbia.