Mladic appears before UN court

Former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic yesterday faced down war crimes court judges at a first appearance, calling the charges against him “obnoxious” and said he was “simply defending his country.”

“I am General Ratko Mladic,” the markedly thinner, older, yet still defiant former military leader told the Yugoslav war crimes court in The Hague.

Mr Mladic, 69, faces 11 charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

July 4 is the date for the next appearance, by when Mr Mladic will be required to enter pleas to the charges against him. If he fails to do so, an automatic not-guilty plea will be entered on his behalf.

“I do not fear any journalists or any nation or any country, I defended my country and my people, I now defend Ratko Mladic before you,” he told judges before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

He called charges against him “obnoxious” and told the court he was “gravely ill”.

“I would like to read and receive these obnoxious charges against me,” the man known as the “Butcher of Bosnia” said following his arrest last week after 16 years on the run.

Better known from media images as a stocky commander in combat fatigues, Mr Mladic appeared before a panel of three judges in a grey suit and gold and black tie, and brandishing a sky-blue cap.

“I defended my people and my country,” the ex-general, charged with Europe’s worst atrocities since World War II, insisted from the dock.

“I did not kill Croats as Croats,” Mr Mladic added after saluting the judges with his left hand.

He said he was “a gravely ill man” and needed more time to study the “monstrous words” in the indictment before entering a plea.

But he insisted he did not need help to move around after court guards offered to take his arm and guide him to the dock.

“I don’t want to be taken by the arm like I am a blind man. I can walk by myself.”

Widows and mothers of victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys that forms the crux of the genocide charges, followed the proceedings live on television in Bosnia.

“I hope God makes him burn in hell,” hissed one woman, seated among the gravestones of victims buried at the Potocari memorial centre.

Presiding judge Alphons Orie read the charge sheet as Mr Mladic listened impassively.

“Ratko Mladic and others formed the objective to eliminate the Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica by killing the men and boys and forcibly removing the women, young children and some elderly men,” the judge said.

A few metres away in the public gallery, relatives of victims battled to contain their emotion, shouting “Butcher! Monster!” at the sound-proof window separating them from Mr Mladic.