LUKIĆ: SECURITY COUNCIL WILL HEAR SERBIA'S ARGUMENTS

BELGRADE, JUNE 10 /SRNA/ - A member of General Ratko Mladić's defense team, lawyer Branko Lukić, believes that the case of General Ratko Mladić will likely be the focus of tomorrow's meeting of the UN Security Council's informal working group on the work of the Hague Mechanism.

Lukić told SRNA that the Security Council might listen to Serbia's arguments tomorrow for the early release of General Mladić for medical treatment, but he does not believe they will accept them, given that the Mechanism has already refused to release him. He stated that New York might consider some new facts, if there were any. "Something new has to happen, God forbid. In this current state, they will not release him," said Lukić. He added that General Mladić's case will likely be the focus, but that it is unknown who among the Serbian convicts is in a worse condition. "It is unknown whether Estonia or Great Britain is worse. They changed the rules so that Serbian convicts cannot be released after serving two-thirds of their sentence," said Lukić. He assessed that the Hague Tribunal was never a court to begin with. "General Mladić himself defined it best – that it is a NATO commission that was supposed to justify the bombing of Serbian positions and later put a judicial seal on the injustice inflicted upon the Serbs," said Lukić. He pointed out that it is a political institution that goes against internationally recognized standards, such as the Nelson Mandela Rules. The meeting of the UN Security Council's informal working group on international tribunals is scheduled for tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. European time. The President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals Graciela Gatti Santana rejected the request on May 14 to allow General Mladić to receive medical treatment in Serbia. 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 health problems. He has been 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 provisional release for medical treatment in Serbia.