The decision was split, four to two. Judges Aminatta Lois Runeny Ngum, Seymour Panton, Mustapha El Baaj and Gatti Santana herself voted to reject the request. Alphons Orie and Prisca Matimba Nyambe voted against, in favor of release on humanitarian grounds. This is not the first time Mladic’s request for provisional release has been turned down; it is a repeat of an earlier Mechanism ruling.
Reactions from Banja Luka and Belgrade
Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik called the decision “inhumane” from Banja Luka today, saying the general deserves adequate medical care. He said the ruling was not unexpected given how Serbian prisoners have been treated in similar cases, and that, in his words, there is no empathy in The Hague for the sick and for those who need help.
Serbia’s Justice Minister Nenad Vujic said Serbia deeply regrets the decision and will insist on having it reviewed without delay. He stressed that Belgrade had not asked for Mladic’s release to his home, but for a medical transfer to the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade, where he would receive continuous institutional medical and palliative care with his family present. He added that Serbia is ready to accept whatever supervision, medical reporting and movement restrictions the Mechanism would set.
“Adequate medical care is a necessary part of humane treatment, but it does not exhaust the requirements of human dignity, especially when a person’s life is measured in days.”
The justice minister said this, adding that the fact two of the five judges supported release on humanitarian grounds confirms the merit of the arguments Serbia had already presented in its letter to the Mechanism. The Srpske Novine portal reported earlier this week that Vujic had already stressed Serbia was seeking a transfer to the VMA, not release to a home address, meaning this decision is the Mechanism’s first official response to that request.