Republika Srpska submits all documents for Mladic’s release for medical treatment — PM

BELGRADE, April 28. /TASS/. Republika Srpska (an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina) has met every condition to have former Bosnian Serb Army commander General Ratko Mladic, who is serving a life sentence in The Hague, released and given proper medical treatment for his deteriorating health, Prime Minister Savo Minic stated. "All conditions have been met for the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague to decide on the urgent release of General Ratko Mladic for medical treatment in Serbia. The governments of Republika Srpska and Serbia have submitted all the necessary documents, and a decision by the mechanism is pending," the press service of the Republic of Srpska’s ruling party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, quoted Minic as saying. On November 22, 2017, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army was sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to life imprisonment for genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws and customs of war. He evaded international justice for nearly 16 years until his arrest in Serbia in May 2011 and subsequent extradition to The Hague. Since 2024, Mladic has been in a prison hospital in The Hague, where he receives palliative care. For the past year and a half, he has been bedridden. In 2025, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals rejected Mladic’s defense team’s request for early release on health grounds. On April 15, Mladic’s son Darko reported that his father had suffered a stroke. On April 24, the general’s defense team filed a request for his immediate release so he could receive medical treatment in Serbia.