31 May 2011

Serbia's war crimes court to consider Mladic appeal

9:16 pm on 31 May 2011

Serbia's war crimes court is expected to consider an appeal against the transfer of former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic to The Hague to face charges of genocide.

The BBC reports it is an appeal with very little chance of success - a formal letter written by the lawyer of General Mladic arguing that he is too ill to be extradited and that he needs urgent medical care in Belgrade first.

But doctors who examined him on Friday deemed him fit enough to go and the Serbian authorities seem unconvinced by the claim of poor health.

The war crimes court will submit its decision on the appeal to the Minister of Justice who has the final say on the matter.

General Mladic was seized last Thursday in Lazarevo village, north of Belgrade. He had been on the run for 16 years.

He is accused of committing war crimes during the Bosnian war, including the massacre of 7,500 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.

On Tuesday he was allowed to visit the grave of his daughter Ana - who committed suicide in 1994 - albeit with a police escort.