Defiant Mladic objects to 'obnoxious' charges, won't plead

Jun 4, 2011, 10:59 GMT

The Hague - Former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic was in fighting mood Friday as he appeared for the first time before a United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague to face charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

'I am defending myself and my people, not Ratko Mladic,' he told the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), speaking in Serbian.

He said he did not want 'a single word or sentence' of his 38-page indictment to be read out to him. Presiding judge Alphons Orie proceeded nonetheless to read a summary of it - for a full 20 minutes.

Asked whether he wanted to enter a plea immediately or wait 30 days as ICTY rules allow him to, Mladic said he needed 'more than a month' to study what he characterized as 'obnoxious charges.'

Mladic stands accused of masterminding with genocidal intent the massacre of 8,000 men and boys in Srebrenica, along with other atrocities during the 1992-1995 Bosnian civil war, including the shelling of Sarajevo and taking hostage the Dutch UN soldiers protecting Srebrenica.

At least six representatives of the Mothers of Srebrenica, a group representing relatives of the victims, came to The Hague to see the former general face justice after almost 16 years on the run.

'I am here to see his bloody eyes,' Munira Subasic told the German Press Agency dpa. She said she had met Mladic in 1995 and asked him to spare his son.

'The criminal promised me but he was not humane enough. He detained my son and took him to death and for the past 16 years he has been living while I have been searching for my son's bones,' said Subasic, who also lost a husband and 19 other relatives.

Mladic repeated claims by his lawyers that he was 'gravely ill.' But he did not at any stage challenge the authority of the ICTY and said he wanted 'to live to see that I am a free man.'

He also protested against being treated like a sick man. 'I don't want to be helped unless I ask for it, because I am general Mladic and the whole world knows that,' he said.

Dressed in a grey suit and tie, Mladic entered the chamber at 0800 GMT wearing a baseball cap. He later took it off, revealing a bald head. On Thursday, his lawyer in Belgrade claimed he had received chemotherapy for cancer of the lymph nodes in 2009.

Initially, the former general's voice seemed slightly trembling, but he always answered the questions put to him by Orie.

His confidence appeared to grow during the proceedings. He growled that he 'did not even know' the temporary council assigned to him, Serbian lawyer Aleksandar Aleksic.

Later, he waved towards the public and clapped twice at Orie when he allowed his request for his health details to be discussed in private session.

Mladic also challenged the court's assertion that he was born on March 12, 1942. 'That is not my date of birth,' he said, claiming he was born 'on Good Monday, 1943.'

'Then we will further verify that,' Orie said.

The hearing lasted less than two hours, including a short suspension. Mladic's next court appearance - in which he will have to enter a plea - was fixed on July 4.

If he were still to refuse, judges are expected to enter a 'not guilty' plea for him.