Macut: Mladic's life in danger, his medical treatment should be continued in Serbia

BELGRADE - Serbian PM Djuro Macut appealed to The Hague-based International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals on Friday to release former Republika Srpska army general Ratko Mladic from prison for medical treatment in Serbia, and noted that Mladic's life was in danger and that the case had a humanitarian aspect and went beyond judicial and legal frameworks.

"We provide all guarantees for General Mladic's stay in Serbia," Macut said at a press conference in Belgrade after a meeting with Republika Srpska PM Savo Minic.

Macut said Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic would on June 12 take part in a regular UN Security Council session on the Hague tribunal to clarify the humanitarian aspect of Mladic's case.

"We hope that we will already have an answer to this question by then. With his serious health problems, General Mladic's life is definitely in danger, we are fighting for human justice and this now has to do with the foundations of human rights," Macut said.

Vujic said Serbia had provided full guarantees to enable Mladic's premature release from prison on humanitarian grounds, which he noted was in line with UN standards.

Minic said a Scheveningen hospital was not providing adequate medical care and assistance to Mladic, and added that keeping him in prison represented "revenge and torture."

"Through the cooperation with Serbia, we will certainly react towards all international institutions," he said.