A UNITED NATIONS war crimes tribunal says that the “Butcher of Bosnia” Ratko Mladic ‘has a case to answer’.
Mladic is accused of war crimes including his role in Srebrenica massacre, the largest mass murder in Europe since World War II. The massacre saw over 8,000 Muslim Bosnians slaughtered in July 1995.
The International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague today rejected Mladic’s application for an acquittal.
The Trial Chamber dismissed all of the Mladic’s defence arguments for acquittal on two counts of genocide and charges relating to a number of individual crimes in various other counts of the indictment.
The chamber said that “there is evidence that acts of genocide took place” in the 15 Bosnia Herzegovina municipalities, as well as in Srebrenica, and that the “evidence cited also provides information on the perpetrators’ genocidal intent”.
Judge Alphons Orie said “that the accused has a case to answer on all counts”, saying that there was testimony from survivors and video evidence of Mladic “calling for revenge on the Muslims of Srebrenica”.
Mladic was initially indicted in July 1995. After having been at large for almost sixteen years, he was arrested in May 2011 and transferred to the Tribunal.
The defence will begin their case next month.
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