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Republika Srpska demands civilian medical care for lifer Mladic — Bosnian Serb leader

According to Milorad Dodik, the treatment of General Ratko Mladic by the Hague Tribunal has crossed all boundaries

BELGRADE, April 22. /TASS/. Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, demands that General Ratko Mladic, who is serving a life sentence in The Hague, be temporarily released so that he can receive adequate medical treatment, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik said.

"The inhumane and cruel treatment of General Ratko Mladic by the Hague Tribunal has crossed all boundaries. We can confidently say that this amounts to attempted murder, a heinous crime. I demand that General Mladic be provided with proper medical care and temporary release, and Republika Srpska is ready to provide all necessary guarantees," Dodik wrote on X.

On November 22, 2017, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army was sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to life imprisonment for genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws and customs of war. He had been on the run from international justice for nearly 16 years before being arrested in Serbia in May 2011 and extradited to The Hague.

In 2025, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, the successor body to the ICTY, rejected a request by Mladic’s defense team for early release on health grounds. The general’s family described the decision as politically motivated and said they intended to continue their efforts. On April 15, 2026, Mladic’s son Darko reported that his father had suffered a stroke. On April 21, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that Russia was working to ensure the general receives comprehensive medical care.