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Lawyer for Mladic Files Appeal Against Extradition

   VOA News  May 30, 2011

Photo: Reuters

   Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic in seen this handout photo
   taken in Belgrade, May 26, 2011

   The lawyer for Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic says the
   former general is so ill he will not live to see the start of his trial
   at the international war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands.
   Attorney Milos Saljic says he plans to file the 69-year-old Mladic's
   appeal against his extradition on Monday. He says his client has
   suffered at least two strokes and is too ill to be transferred to
   court, where he is expected to face charges of war crimes and crimes
   against humanity, including genocide.
   But Serbia's deputy war crimes prosecutor, Bruno Vekaric, says the
   appeal is a delaying tactic by defense attorneys and that nothing
   should delay Mladic's extradition. A Justice Ministry official says he
   could be sent to The Hague in about four days.
   A Belgrade court on Friday ruled that the Bosnian Serb wartime
   commander is healthy enough be extradited to The Hague to stand trial.
   On Sunday, about 10,000 Mladic supporters rallied in Belgrade against
   Mladic's arrest. The demonstrations turned violent as protesters threw
   bottles and stones at police. Authorities say about 180 people were
   arrested and 43 were injured, including at least 32 police officers.
   Another protest was held in Mladic's birthplace of Kalinovik in
   southeastern Bosnia-Herzegovina. About 3,000 people, including former
   Bosnian Serb fighters, gathered at that rally.
   The United Nations tribunal charged Mladic with genocide in connection
   with the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys from
   Srebrenica. He also is charged with war crimes related to the
   three-year siege of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, during the
   1992-to-1995 Bosnian war.

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