HEALTH CONDITION OF GENERAL MLADIĆ REMAINS SERIOUS, NO RESPONSE FROM THE UN

BELGRADE, MAY 23 /SRNA/ - The health condition of General Ratko Mladić remains serious, and there has been no response from the UN regarding a letter sent after the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague refused to grant him permission for medical treatment in Serbia, his son Darko Mladić told SRNA.

Darko Mladić said that he has not recently been in contact with doctors in The Hague, but that they sent some medical documentation yesterday, which Serbian doctors will review. "As far as I can see, there is nothing special," he said. He emphasized that the general managed to call him a few times over the past several days, meaning that he was given a phone to hear his family, but that the conversation was very limited. "He hardly speaks at all, but they give him the phone so he can hear what we are saying. Essentially, there is nothing new from what we are hearing," Darko Mladić explained. Commenting on the letter sent by the defense to UN human rights committees regarding the Mechanism’s refusal to allow his father to receive medical treatment in Serbia, despite his extremely serious health condition and being close to death, Mladić said that there has been no response, that these procedures are very slow, and that it will take some time. He pointed out that the consideration of this issue at the UN Security Council in June is the only remaining option, and that there is nothing to discuss at this point with the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, Graciela Gatti Santana, who has already taken a negative stance by refusing to grant his release. "That is pointless," Darko Mladić said. Regarding Russia’s clear support for the general, Darko Mladić said it means a lot to both Ratko and him, and that it is strange that UN officials are ignoring a country that is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. General Mladić suffered a stroke on April 10 and another one on May 2, after which his health condition further deteriorated due to serious neurological, cardiovascular, and nephrological problems. He has been held in the detention hospital in The Hague since 2024, where he is receiving palliative care. The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague has repeatedly rejected requests for General Mladić to be granted temporary release for medical treatment in Serbia.