Mladic rebukes war crimes court for ‘obnoxious’ charges

Bosnian Serb commander says genocide claims are ‘monstrous’ while exchanging gestures and looks with victims’ families Ratko Mladic has made a defiant first appearance at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague, describing the charges of genocide against him as “obnoxious” and “monstrous” and taunting victims of the massacre he is accused of committing at Srebrenica. The 69-year-old former commander of the Bosnian Serb army appeared just after 10am in the special court on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. He wore a grey suit and grey cap and saluted the public gallery and the judge. Mladic was asked if he wanted to hear the full indictment against him. He told the presiding judge, Alphons Orie: “I do not want to hear a single letter or sentence of that indictment read out to me.” The judge ignored him and read a summary of 11 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. The charges relate to the massacre at Srebrenica, where more than 7,000 Bosnian Serb men and boys were killed by Mladic’s forces ; the shelling and sniping operation against Sarajevo; wider ethnic cleansing in the region; and taking hostage 200 UN peacekeepers and military observers to use as human shields. Asked if he wanted to plead guilty or not guilty or postpone his decision for 30 days, as allowed by the court, Mladic said: “Mr Orie, you are a bit older than I am. I would like to receive what you have read out just now, these obnoxious charges levelled against me. I want to read this properly and give it proper thought together with my lawyers because I need more than a month because these are monstrous words that I have never heard before, the words that are in this indictment.” His comments caused some consternation in the public gallery among the victims’ families, sitting in the second and third rows of the public gallery, who do not want the trial delayed. During the hearing Mladic made eye contact on several occasions with this group. After the indictment was read out he looked across at Kada Hotic, an elderly Bosnian Muslim woman who lost her son, husband and two brothers at Srebrenica. During an exchange through the glass he could be seen waving his finger at her and smiling. She wagged her finger at him too. She said he made a gesture to her with his thumb and forefinger indicating that she was small. Mladic could not have heard her and she could not hear him. “I looked through the glass and said to him I want you to know that you murdered my only son,” she said after the hearing concluded. On another occasion, as the judge addressed Mladic about procedures, he smiled and nodded to the group of victims and their families. One of them, Bakira Hascic, had been raped by Bosnian Serb forces and in total lost 27 members of her extended family. Another, Munira Subusic, lost 22 members of her family, including her youngest son, whose remains have never been found. At the end of the hearing they shouted “butcher” at him in Bosnian. Orie asked if Mladic had any points to make about his current conditions. Mladic took the opportunity to give the world a preview of what his defence might be. “I do not fear any journalist, any people, any nation, people or ethnicity,” he said. “I defended my people and my country, not Ratko Mladic. Now I am defending myself, Ratko Mladic, before you … I am Ratko Mladic, I did not kill Croats as Croats, and I am not killing anyone in Libya or in Africa … I was just defending my country.” He said he did not know how long the trial would last. “I just want to live to see that I am a free man.” Mladic struggled to stand up and had to be helped by two court security officers, but otherwise he appeared in better health than might have been expected given that his lawyer in Serbia had indicated he might not survive the trial. Movement in his right hand appeared to be inhibited and his speech was slightly slurred, but he seemed alert and responsive, jutting out his jaw, tipping his head back and once waving his fist while addressing the judge. He appeared keen to seem in command of events and at one point called for a time out using his arms to make a T-shape as if he was a basketball coach. The judge set a date for a second appearance at 10am on 4 July and told Mladic he would be returned to UN custody until then. Ratko Mladic Bosnia and Herzegovina Europe Serbia War crimes International criminal court Robert Booth guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 3, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.