NO MECHANISM'S DECISION ON REQUEST TO RELEASE GENERAL MLADIĆ YET

BELGRADE, MAY 1 /SRNA/ – The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague has still not made a decision on the request by the family and lawyers of Ratko Mladić for the general to be released for medical treatment in Serbia due to his serious health condition, his son Darko Mladić told SRNA.

Emphasizing that there have been no changes regarding the general's health, Mladić's son said that since submitting the request on April 23, the family and legal team have in the meantime received court approval to publish a larger portion of the filing submitted to the Mechanism. Darko Mladić explained that, under procedure, the document had been classified until the judge ordered and approved what could be made public. "The court's order to publish the public part of the filing arrived the day before yesterday, and we had a deadline to do so by today. Yesterday we completed what needed to be edited, and today it was published," Mladić's son said. According to him, the filing published today, essentially submitted yesterday, is only the public portion of the submission sent on April 23. "However, there is nothing new in the sense that any decision has been made; we were simply allowed to publish a larger part of the submission and approved to release it publicly," Darko Mladić said. The request for urgent release for treatment in Serbia, signed by lawyer Dragan Ivetić, states that it was submitted under an expedited procedure following information that General Mladić's health is poor and that he is "approaching the end of his life". "The urgent request is submitted on the basis of a serious medical incident on /REDACTED/ and the latest medical information confirming that Ratko Mladić is in a state of advanced, irreversible medical deterioration resulting from a medical incident /REDACTED/, from which he may not recover, and that he is approaching the end of his life," the edited document forwarded to the media by the Mechanism states. The President of the Mechanism, Graciela Gatti Santana, ordered that a report be prepared by today at the latest, containing the opinions of independent experts assessing General Mladić's current health condition, including relevant diagnoses, prognosis, and treatment options. Mladić's legal team submitted the request on Thursday, April 23, seeking conditional release on humanitarian grounds in light of his deteriorating health. General Mladić suffered a stroke on April 10, and his already serious condition has worsened further, as he has significant neurological, cardiovascular, and kidney-related problems. Since 2024, General Mladić has been held in the detention hospital in The Hague, where he is receiving palliative care due to his severe condition. The Mechanism has previously rejected requests for his temporary release for medical treatment in Serbia.