UN court orders medical evaluation for Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A U.N. court asked for a health assessment on Tuesday for the military chief known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” following a request by his attorneys to release the 84-year old on humanitarian grounds.

Ratko Mladic was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 for orchestrating genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Balkan nation’s 1992-95 war.

Mladic is in a “state of advanced, irreversible medical decline,” and should be released, his defense teams said in their request.

The former general had to be taken to the emergency room earlier this month for an unspecified health incident, according to the order.

Judge Graciela Gatti Santana ordered an independent medical assessment to be made by May 1, requesting information on Mladic’s “current health condition” and “the adequacy of his care” at the detention facility where he has been held for 15 years.

The conflict in the former Yugoslavia erupted after the country’s breakup in the early 1990s, with the worst crimes taking place in Bosnia. More than 100,000 people died and millions lost their homes before a peace agreement was signed in 1995.

Mladic went into hiding for around 10 years before his arrest in Serbia in May 2011.

The pugnacious Bosnian Serb leader was ejected from a courtroom at the United Nations’ Yugoslav war crimes tribunal during the reading of his verdict, after yelling at judges: “Everything you said is pure lies. Shame on you!”

Mladic was the last major figure to face justice from the conflict that ended more than a quarter-century ago. His appeal is being heard by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals — a court that deals with remaining cases from the now-closed U.N. tribunals for Rwanda and the Balkan wars.

Judges denied a request for early release in 2025, writing that his “conditions of detention continue to be in full compliance with the principles of humanity and respect for human dignity.” The court also denied a request from Mladic to travel to Serbia in November to attend a funeral.