On TV at 1500GMT: Is it worth prosecuting an 'old broken man' like Mladic?
| 11:30 UK time, Friday, 27 May 2011
UPDATE: Ex-Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic has been declared fit to be extradited from Serbia to face trial in The Hague. Gen Mladic's legal team say he is in poor health and that they will appeal on Monday. They have requested that he be admitted to hospital over concerns about his health.
Do you think Mr. Mladic's health should be taken into consideration in relation to this trial? We hope you'll get in touch.
ORIGINAL POST:
Our first glimpse of Ratko Mladic following his arrest were TV pictures of him shuffling into court in Belgrade, apparently stooping and somewhat withered.
According to the BBC's John Simpson - who met him while covering the Bosnian war - he looked like an 'old, old broken man'.
Doctors are now assessing his physical and psychological condition as part of the extradition proceedings.
This is some of what his lawyer, Milos Saljic, says ...
The investigative judge tried to interrogate Ratko Mladic but he failed because he (Mladic) is in a difficult psychological and physical condition. It is difficult to establish any kind of communication with him.
If he's unable to communicate, and therefore to testify, is it possible to get any sort of satisfactory justice from proceedings against Ratko Mladic?
Or do you agree with smiling_suze, who tweets
Why on earth should it make any difference how old / ill Mladic is?! Sometimes human rights just goes too far! This man has to pay regardless of health!
Perhaps you think his physical state is symbolic of the fact that the authorities failed to catch up with him for 16 years.
Proceedings at the UN War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague were never completed against former Serb President Slobodan Milosevic because he dropped dead in his cell - more than 4 years after his arrest.
Richard Dicker from Human Rights Watch assesses it like this ...
"From any prosecutor's perspective, the passage of time is not a good thing. Witnesses die. Witnesses disappear. Memories fade. And in those ways the passage of time makes the prosecutor's burden heavier ... But in this instance, the office of the prosecutor at the Yugoslav tribunal undoubtedly made a tenacious effort to nail down everything that it felt it would need for an eventual trial."
Is it too late for justice in the case of Ratko Mladic?
Comment number 1.
At 11:33 27th May 2011, Mutlipack_can13 wrote:Ofcourse he should still be punished.
Do we really want to make the lockerbie bomber mistake again?
It's porbably for the best he can't communicate, do we really want to hear his lies? throw him to the wolves i say. I dont care if he can talk or not.
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Comment number 2.
At 13:21 27th May 2011, modernJan wrote:"Is it worth prosecuting an 'old broken man' like Mladic?"
He is broken by choice: he could have turned himself in years ago, but even if it wasn't by choice it's no excuse to suspend justice. Next thing everyone who gets arrested just says they're "broken"... What is this world coming to when we let a mass murderer walk free (and potentially start killing again) just because he says he doesn't feel hunky-dory?
Why do we even need to talk to him? There's tons of technical evidence to convict him on, but the ICC is putting countless millions down the drain just because they refuse to have trials in absentia. The ICC is the biggest scam the judicial guild has pulled on the world.
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Comment number 3.
At 13:47 27th May 2011, TriSec wrote:Well, was it worth prosecuting Adolf Eichmann?
It won't bring back the dead, but they may rest easier.
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Comment number 4.
At 16:21 27th May 2011, Frank wrote:Your Serbian commentator is unfortunately representative of a large number of Serbs who refuse to accept the reckoning that is required for their nation to move forward. To not consider Srebrenica as an act of genocide is nothing but pure delusion and denial... and they continue to hold Mladic and others such as Seselj as national heroes.
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Comment number 5.
At 16:23 27th May 2011, Arunakar Pandey wrote:For the sake of justice trial of Mladic is a must as it will provide the legal historical ground for the generations to come
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Comment number 6.
At 16:32 27th May 2011, Deep Inder wrote:In times of war, mistakes are made and bigger mistakes are made by people in power. Mladic should be sent to the Hague but should be treated keeping in mind the conditins at the time. Remember 'Rules of the Engagement' when putting him on trial. ON the whole, there seems to be bias against Serbia in this case as, usually, there is bias against the Muslims who ae branded terrorists without much evidence...
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Comment number 7.
At 17:54 27th May 2011, Ibrahim in UK wrote:Is it worth pursueing justice? Yes. Justice and accountability is what stops the world from unraveling into the law of the jungle.
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Comment number 8.
At 18:00 27th May 2011, ssss1989 wrote:As soon as Naser Oric and Hashim Thaciand others like them are brought to justice, but all we see is the Serbian leaders being charged. Even a 2 year old knows that you can't fight alone, but if you listen to the media it sure sounds like it. So I was wondering what happened to all the killed serbs, did the Serbs do that as well or did they magically die....
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Comment number 9.
At 19:58 27th May 2011, Jacek wrote:Being old is not an excuse. He could think about what he was doing when he was actually about to do it. He was young then.
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Comment number 10.
At 09:39 30th May 2011, Kim55 wrote:Yes it’s worth prosecuting this old broken crinimal. Among those he massacred were also old broken men and women. It’s really a pity that some people wonder whether it’s the sensible thing to do. He doesn’t deserve mercy to be conferred on him. What he did is so horrible and despicable to consider any other option than punishing him severely.
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Comment number 11.
At 14:18 10th Jun 2011, safia naz wrote:Mladic should be punished for his wrong doings.In this case the justice would set an example for those who are in power this time and are using their power in the wrong way.So justice is very important.
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