Ratko Mladic

The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague said on Thursday that it has postponed next month's appeals hearings in the Ratko Mladic case because of travel restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic's defence lawyers have requested that appeals hearings scheduled for June 16 and 17 at the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague be postponed because of restrictions on cross-border movement imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"Not only does [genocide denial] cause unimaginable pain for those who have survived genocide and for those who have lost love ones, it is one of the most reliable portents of future violence," she said.

Darko Mladic says that they received indications that Ratko Mladic's blood count (CBC test) has drastically deteriorated these days, to such extent that his life might be threatened.

The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals announced on Monday that Ratko Mladic is recovering well from surgery and that defence and prosecution appeals against the verdict in his trial will be heard on June 16-17 in The Hague.

The appeals were originally set for March 17-18, but were postponed because the former Bosnian Serb military chief needed a colon operation.

Miodrag Stojanovic, one of the lawyers representing Ratko Mladic at his trial in The Hague, told BIRN that the former Bosnian Serb military commander had a colon operation on Monday and has now left hospital.

"He was discharged from the hospital yesterday [Wednesday] and returned to the [UN] detention unit [in the Netherlands]," said Stojanovic.

The Association of Defence Counsel Practising Before the International Courts and Tribunals urged the UN's Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague on Friday to free elderly war crime convicts to help ensure that they are not infected with the COVID-19 virus.

The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague said on Thursday that it has rejected a request to introduce new evidence about the Srebrenica massacres and the wartime siege of Sarajevo at appeal hearings in the trial of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic.

The UN court in The Hague postponed appeal hearings in the trial of former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic, who is challenging his conviction for genocide and other crimes, because he needs to undergo surgery.

"He saw us. I saw him too. He raised his hand, he waved… They went off towards Potocari. I have never seen him again," she said.

Malagic has testified at four trials of Bosnian Serbs military and political officials at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague - the cases against Radislav Krstic, Radovan Karadzic, Zdravko Tolimir and Ratko Mladic.