Lawyers seek Mladic’s Release, "He Has ‘Months to Live’"

Defence lawyers for Ratko Mladic, who is serving a life sentence for genocide, asked the Hague court for his release, saying he has been transferred to palliative care and “his remaining life expectancy is measured in months”.

Lamija Grebo, June 3, 2025

Ratko Mladic in court in The Hague in June 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/Jerry Lampen/Pool.

Ratko Mladic’s lawyers have made an urgent request to the UN’s International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague to release the wartime Bosnian Serb military chief on humanitarian grounds because he has already been transferred to palliative care and only has months to live, according to the court motion made public on Tuesday.

The motion for release said that the UN Detention Unit in The Hague, where he is being held, has “told Mr. Mladic and his family that his medical conditions cannot be cured, and that they are shifting to palliative care and end-of-life considerations, and that his remaining life expectancy is measured in months”.

Calling for the 83-year-old genocide and war crimes convict to be given provisional release or conditional early release, the motion argued that “Mladic’s limited life expectancy is a central humanitarian issue that should be given decisive weight”.

It insisted that there is no risk of flight due to his terminal diagnosis, short life expectancy, need for palliative care and the fact that he is bedridden.

Mladic’s lawyers Dragan Ivetic and Branko Lukic said in the motion that since March 2024, he has had three medical incidents that medical officers at the UN Detention Unit have assessed as life-threatening or potentially life-threatening.

“Given the nature of Mladić’s terminal and incurable health condition and his short life expectancy, continued detention serves no legitimate purpose and amounts to inhuman treatment and punishment,” their motion argued.

They said that granting Mladic release would save the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals and the UN Detention Unit the costs of palliative care and allow Mladic to explore all medical options for prolonging and improving his quality of life, as well as to live out the rest of his life with his family in a humane and comfortable manner.

Mladic was convicted under a final verdict in June 2021 of the genocide of Bosniaks from Srebrenica, the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats across the country during the war, terrorising the population of Sarajevo with a campaign of shelling and sniping during the siege of the city, and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

During his time in custody in the Netherlands, Mladic has had several serious medical problems and has suffered two strokes and a heart attack.

His lawyers have repeatedly claimed that he has not been getting proper treatment and that his health problems have been underestimated. The UN court has repeatedly declined requests for him to be hospitalised for treatment.

Copyright BIRN 2015