JAPAN: Former UN Representative Yasushi Akashi says that Ratko Mladic's arrest signals the end of an era

Record ID: 463748

  • Title: JAPAN: Former UN Representative Yasushi Akashi says that Ratko Mladic's arrest signals the end of an era
  • Date: 28th May 2011
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PHOTOS OF AKASHI DURING HIS TIME AT UN
  • Embargoed: 12th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA4WKNX4R7YAXQZ0MNWLHQR5QHJ
  • Story Text: Former United Nations (UN) Special Representative Yasushi Akashi said on Friday (May 27) that the arrest of Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic signaled the end of a brutal era and expressed hope for Serbia's integration into Europe.
    Akashi was the UN's Special Representative for Former Yugoslavia during the the 1992-1995 Bosnian war and welcomed Mladic's arrest. He said he hoped that the country can now put that period of history behind them.
    "The court will make a final judgment. And I hope that this will not lead to perpetual mutual recriminations. But once and for all, we can put a period to that most unfortunate, most brutal, most inhuman period of modern history," he said.
    A Serbian police official said Mladic, accused of orchestrating the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica and a 43-month siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnia war, was found in a farmhouse owned by a cousin.
    Mladic, whose Bosnian Serb Army was armed and funded by the late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, is still seen as a hero by many Serbs.
    Milosevic died in his prison cell in 2006 while on trial in The Hague for war crimes.
    Akashi also expressed hope that the arrest will clear the way for Serbia to further integrate into Europe and lead to a more peaceful Balkans.
    "I think their integration into the European community and as well as integration of other neighbouring countries, like Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina would contribute to the overall peace and stability in the area," he said.
    European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Thursday (May 26) she expected Mladic to be extradited to the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia in The Hague within 9 or 10 days.
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