Europe’s most wanted war crimes fugitive Mladic held (Lead)
May 26th, 2011 - 7:31 pm ICT by IANSBelgrade, May 26 (IANS/AKI) Alleged Serbian war criminal and Europe’s most wanted fugitive Ratko Mladic was arrested Thursday in Serbia, Serbian President Boris Tadic said.
“Today we close one chapter in history that will bring us closer to full reconciliation in the region,” Tadic said at a press conference in Belgrade.
Mladic is wanted by the Hague Tribunal on genocide and war crimes charges. The charges include his alleged responsibility for the 1995 massacre of at least 7,500 Muslim men and boys from the town of Srebrenica. It was Europe’s worst slaughter since World War II.
Tadic declined to give details of the arrest operation, saying only that he was arrested on Serbian soil. He said that information will be made public following an investigation by security services.
Serbia, which strives for the European Union (EU) membership, hopes his arrest would help put the its pariah state status behind. “I believe all the doors for our membership in the EU have been opened now,” Tadic said.
Having lived freely in Belgrade for some time, Mladic disappeared from view when former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested in 2001.
Serbia has been accused of not acting aggressively enough to apprehend Mladic who is suspected of being harboured by elements of the military and perhaps government.
The country will try to use the arrest as evidence that it stands on the side of justice and not the nationalism that fuelled the war in the former Yugoslavia.
“Nobody should doubt now or ever that Serbia cooperates with the Hague,” Tadic said.
Serbian-Croat Goran Hadzic remains at large with a Hague arrest warrant for suspected war crimes against him. Tadic pledged to bring him to justice.
“Goran will be arrested. I promise you it will happen,” he said.
–IANS/AKI
snb/dg
- Serbia war crimes suspect Mladic may have been held - May 26, 2011
- War crimes suspect Hadzic extradited to The Hague - Jul 22, 2011
- Ratko Mladic transferred from prison hospital to cell - Jun 06, 2011
- Bosnia war witness says paramilitary raped Muslims - Sep 07, 2012
- Clashes erupt in Serbia protest against Mladic arrest - May 30, 2011
- Milosevic confidante jailed in Serbia for embezzlement - Dec 28, 2010
- Mladic arrives in The Hague to face war crimes charges - Jun 01, 2011
- Mladic threatens hunger strike if rights not observed - Jun 06, 2011
- Yugoslavia's last PM is dead - Nov 28, 2011
- Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Karadzic arrested - Jul 22, 2008
- Tito's grandson seeks return of Communism - Apr 09, 2010
- Spanish brand wins at Serbia beer fest - Aug 22, 2012
- Seven Bosnian Serbs convicted for Srebrenica massacre (Lead) - Jun 10, 2010
- Serbia confers top award to Djokovic - Feb 15, 2012
- Yugoslavian leader Ante Markovic dies - Nov 28, 2011
Tags: arrest warrant, belgrade, boris tadic, former yugoslav president, former yugoslavia, hague tribunal, muslim men, pariah state, president boris, president slobodan milosevic, ratko mladic, serbian president, slobodan milosevic, srebrenica, wanted war, war crimes, war criminal, world war ii, yugoslav president slobodan, yugoslav president slobodan milosevic