Mladic won’t live to see a trial, says Lawyer

Bruno Vekaric, Serbia’s deputy war crimes prosecutor, says Mladic is employing a delaying tactic and that nothing should prevent his extradition to the international war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands.

Supporters of genocide suspect Ratko Mladic wave flags with his picture and reading in Serbian: "Serbian Hero" during a rally organized by the ultra nationalist Serbian Radical Party in front of the Parliament building, in Belgrade, on Sunday. Photo: AP.

The lawyer for war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic says the former general is so ill he won’t live to see the start of his trial on genocide charges.

Attorney Milos Saljic asked on Monday for a battery of doctors to examine the 69—year old. Mladic was arrested last week after 16 years on the run, and is said to have suffered at least two strokes.

But Bruno Vekaric, Serbia’s deputy war crimes prosecutor, says Mladic is employing a delaying tactic and that nothing should prevent his extradition to the international war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands.

The U.N. tribunal charged Mladic with genocide in 1995, accusing him of orchestrating the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica and other war crimes of Bosnia’s 1992—95 war.