VARIOUS: Divided Bosnians and Serbs follow trial of war crimes suspect Ratko Maladic on television

Record ID: 474912

  • Title: VARIOUS: Divided Bosnians and Serbs follow trial of war crimes suspect Ratko Maladic on television
  • Date: 4th June 2011
  • Summary: TV SCREEN WITH MLADIC ON TV SCREEN WITH THE JUDGE ALPHONS ORIE
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia
  • City:
  • Country: Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,War / Fighting
  • Reuters ID: LVA4YPWM6JHM6TNQAM8DZ0IDVXUG
  • Story Text: Former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic faced judges at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Friday (June 3) to answer charges of genocide in the Bosnia war.
    Mladic faces the special court's gravest charge, that of genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys and for the 43-month siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995 in which some 12,000 people were killed.
    In Sarajevo, residents watched Mladic's court appearance on a big screen at a shopping mall in a square named after the children killed during the siege.
    One survivor, Valoda Mahmutovic, welcomed Mladic's appearance.
    "It's never too late, at least let's let the truth be known for the sake of those who lost their lives."
    Another resident, Hidaeta Ustamujic, regretted that it had taken 16 years to capture the Serbian army commander.
    "It's too late for the victims and this is what we should have had much earlier," she told Reuters.
    At the memorial for the 1,400 children who were killed during the 43-month siege, Professor Sabahudin Dautbasic, spoke of his sadness at losing his son.
    "Every Friday I am here and every day I pass the monument and every day I stop here next to my son who was killed, who did no harm to anyone. He was only 9 years old. My sister lost her son, 15 days after my son was killed so the whole family have lost so much," Dautbasic said.
    "Of course for the rest of our lives we will be in mourning but I want to say God forbid that something like this should happen again to anyone," he added.
    Mladic was arrested last week in a Serbian village and extradited by Serbia on Tuesday (May 31), to become the tribunal's biggest case. His capture came nearly 16 years after The Hague issued its indictment against him.
    A career soldier, Mladic was branded "the butcher of the Balkans" in the late 1990s for a ruthless campaign to seize and "ethnically cleanse" territory for Serbs following the break-up of the Serb-dominated Yugoslav federation of six republics.
    Serb nationalists believe Mladic defended the nation and did no worse than Croat or Bosnian Muslim army commanders, as the federation was torn apart in five years of conflict that claimed some 130,000 lives, destroying towns and villages.
    In Belgrade, Serbian TV was also carrying live pictures of Mladic's trial in the Hague war crimes tribunal.
    People gathered in cafes to watch what was Mladic's first appearance in public after so many years in hiding.
    For Slavica Petrovic, it was painful to see him in the dock.
    "Its very sad to watch this man, regardless what I think, but I sympathize with him, and I would like him not to be in this position." Slavica Petrovic said.
    Dragisa, also from Belgrade, who went to the cafe to see the beginning of the trial, was shocked with Mladic's appearance.
    "He look to me miserable, wretched,, that's my personal feeling." Dragisa said.
    Mladic's next court appearance will be on July 4.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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