FRANCE: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon congratulates Serbian President Boris Tadic for Ratko Mladic arrest

Record ID: 560099

  • Title: FRANCE: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon congratulates Serbian President Boris Tadic for Ratko Mladic arrest
  • Date: 27th May 2011
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (MAY 26, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF UNESCO BUILDING IN PARIS VARIOUS OF UNITED NATIONS DELEGATION AND US SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON DELEGATION IN CORRIDORS OF UNESCO UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI MOON AT PODIUM VARIOUS OF BAN AND CLINTON SEATED WITH UNESCO SIGN IN BACKGROUND (CONFERENCE ON THE WORLDWIDE EDUCATION OF GIRLS AND WOMEN ) AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI MOON SAYING "This arrest marks an important step in our collective fight to end impunity as well as for the work of the ICTY. I commend the efforts of President Tadic and the Serbian government. Thank you very much." AUDIENCE LISTENING UNESCO AUDITORIUM
  • Embargoed: 11th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France, France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVADXWMLW02I3GL7SND43WVQ9AV2
  • Story Text: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon congratulated Serbian President Boris Tadic on Thursday (May 26) for the arrest of wanted war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic after more ten years on the run.
    Speaking alongside US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a UNESCO conference, Ban said that the arrest was an important development and deserved praise.
    "This arrest marks an important step in our collective fight to end impunity as well as for the work of the ICTY. I commend the efforts of President Tadic and the Serbian government. Thank you very much," he said.
    The Bosnian Serb wartime general is wanted by UN investigators for playing a part in the Srebrenica genocide which put an end to the lives of nearly 8,000 Bosnians.
    Mladic was arrested in the Serbian village of Lazarevo, around 100 km (60 miles) from the capital Belgrade, a police official said. His identity was confirmed after a DNA test.
    Mladic kept a low profile after the Bosnia war -- Europe's worst fighting since World War Two -- and then faded from public view in the early 2000s. Yet the fugitive continued to cast a long shadow over Serbia, as the EU made Belgrade's integration contingent upon his arrest.
    The European Union said his arrest would show the country wanted to move forward on European Union membership.
    Mladic, seen by many Serbs as a hero for his loyal and fearless service to the Serb cause, is expected to quickly be transferred to the Hague court to face a trial.
    The prosecutor's office at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague said it could not comment on operational issues.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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