Bosnia genocide suspect Ratko Mladic arrested in Serbia

[KRonn]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/05/26/serbia.mladic/index.html?hpt=T2

Bosnia genocide suspect Ratko Mladic arrested in Serbia

(CNN) -- Ratko Mladic, the former Serbian military commander accused of genocide in the bloodiest war fought in Europe since World War II, was arrested Thursday after more than 15 years in hiding, Serbia's president announced.

Mladic was the highest-ranking war crimes suspect to remain at large from the wars that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. His arrest in Serbia followed a three-year investigation, President Boris Tadic said in a dramatic and hastily announced news conference in Belgrade.

Tadic refused to give more details about the operation.

Mladic, 69, is charged with genocide, extermination and murder, among others counts, by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The tribunal has accused him of "direct involvement" in the killings of nearly 8,000 men and boys in the Bosnian Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, Europe's worst massacre since the Holocaust.

The onetime Bosnian Serb commander stands accused of "ethnic cleansing," widespread killing, forcible deportations, torture, forced labor and physical, psychological and sexual violence against Bosnian Muslims between 1992 and 1995. But he remains a hero to some of his former soldiers, said David Owen, a former European Union envoy to Yugoslavia, suggesting that his supporters had sheltered him in Serbia.

Tadic said Serbia continues to probe "who aided and abetted Mladic ... and those people will face justice."

"All war criminals must face justice," Tadic said.

The international police agency Interpol praised the arrest as "a triumph for international justice." Interpol officials had met with Tadic in January to discuss closer cooperation in the hunt for war crimes suspects, the organization's secretary-general, Ronald Noble, said in a statement on Mladic's capture.

"After today's arrest, no one should doubt Serbia's commitment to the rule of law and justice," Noble said.

And French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the move "a very brave decision" by Tadic, whose nation is seeking membership in the European Union.

"Serbia is a country which has suffered a lot," Sarkozy said while hosting the Group of Eight economic summit in Deauville. "But by the fact that it is handing over the one who is suspected of humanitarian crimes, it is great news."

Tadic said the arrest will help the process of reconciliation throughout the Balkans and should pave the way for Serbia's entry into the EU. James Ker-Lindsay, a senior research fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, called Thursday "an incredibly important day for Serbia."

"Ratko Mladic was the person to get hold of. This totally transforms Serbian prospects for getting into the European Union," he said.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton hailed the arrest as a victory for "the rule of law in Serbia" and praised Tadic and his government for "this courageous action."

Ashton called for the quick transfer of the suspect to the Netherlands for trial. But Tadic declined to say how long the extradition would take, explaining it was not up to him.

Mladic had been on the run since the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended in 1995. The Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List was the first to report his arrest, saying that police were doing DNA tests on a suspect to determine whether he was the notorious former commander.

Mladic was the last fugitive from a triumvirate of Serbian leaders accused of genocide against Muslims and Croats as the three populations fought a brutal war over Yugoslav territory.

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was toppled in 2000 and sent to face charges in The Hague. He died in 2006 while the trial was still going on.

Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was arrested in July 2008 and is now on trial in The Hague.

Karadzic was removed from power under the Dayton Peace accords that ended three years of brutal fighting. He went into hiding, grew a full white beard and long hair, and was working in an alternative medicine clinic in Belgrade -- right under the noses of authorities -- when he was captured.

Karadzic has insisted on defending himself at The Hague. Prosecutors accuse him of deliberately obstructing the trial with delaying tactics, and judges have threatened to impose a defense lawyer on him if he does not cooperate.

The 1992-95 Bosnian war was the longest of the conflicts spawned by the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Backed by the Milosevic government, Bosnian Serb forces seized control of more than half the country and launched a campaign against the Muslim and Croat populations.

The United Nations declared Srebrenica to be a safe haven, and tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims flooded in, expecting protection. But a small contingent of Dutch U.N. peacekeepers, lightly armed and aware that no reinforcements were coming, stood aside and allowed Mladic's troops to overrun Srebrenica, leading to the slaughter.

NATO intervened in the conflict, bombing Bosnian Serb military positions. The United States brought the leaders of the warring factions to an agreement in Dayton, Ohio, in 1995, bringing the violence to an end.

[Warspite]

I look forward to a long and tortuous trial followed by imprisonment in a luxury house in Sweden.

[Valmy]

I look forward to a long and tortuous trial followed by imprisonment in a luxury house in Sweden.

He should be sentenced to death by trial like Slobodan.

[DGuller]

Good thing the trial is going to be in Netherlands.  There are going to be plenty of people nearby who were observing the genocide.

[Norgy]

As much as I appreciate the Serbian gesture of acting upon intelligence they have most likely been sitting on since, well, 16 years ago, I somehow doubt Mladic will get his just desserts (Spotted Dick) and rather get unjust desserts (ice cream and warm forest berries).

[Viking]

EU: Serbia, you can't get in unless you get Mladic.
15 minutes pass
Serbia: Hey, guys, we caught Mladic, can we get in to the EU?




hmmm.... Serbia looks like Pakistan, only more cooperative.

[Tamas]

EU: Serbia, you can't get in unless you get Mladic.
15 minutes pass
Serbia: Hey, guys, we caught Mladic, can we get in to the EU?




hmmm.... Serbia looks like Pakistan, only more cooperative.

lol yes

still, imprisoning genocidal Serbs (or any Serb, as a matter of fact) worth a lot

[Martim Silva]

EU: Serbia, you can't get in unless you get Mladic.
15 minutes pass
Serbia: Hey, guys, we caught Mladic, can we get in to the EU?

hmmm.... Serbia looks like Pakistan, only more cooperative.

I thought the same.

[Slargos]

A sad day for justice. 

[Habbaku]

hmmm.... Serbia looks like Pakistan, only more cooperative.

lol yes

still, imprisoning genocidal Serbs (or any Serb, as a matter of fact) worth a lot

All Serbs already live in a prison.  It's called Serbia.

[Norgy]

All Serbs already live in a prison.  It's called Serbia.

Oh, I am pretty sure the fact that all Serbs don't or didn't live there was one of the reasons Mladic worked his disappearing Bosniak magic trick.

[Slargos]

All Serbs already live in a prison.  It's called Serbia.

Oh, I am pretty sure the fact that all Serbs don't or didn't live there was one of the reasons Mladic worked his disappearing Bosniak magic trick.

[The Brain]

Can a guy be more 90s?

[Jacob]

A sad day for justice. 

I'd thought you supported the Croats over the Serbs?

[Slargos]

A sad day for justice. 

I'd thought you supported the Croats over the Serbs?

Don't be so crass.

The Croats are a deceitful race and have always been the enemies of the Swedes. Their alliance with the Muslims only serves to further damn them.

The Serbs may be Slavs, but in a race where there are only filthy, vermin-riddled horses, you need to find the one with the least infection.