Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian-Serb general who is facing war crimes charges at the Hague, had his trial suspended indefinitely on Thursday. The presiding judge, Alphons Orie, postponed the trial because of “significant” errors made by the prosecution in disclosing evidence to Mladic’s defence team, the New York Times reports.
Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian-Serb general who is facing war crimes charges at the Hague, had his trial suspended indefinitely on Thursday. The presiding judge, Alphons Orie, postponed the trial because of “significant” errors made by the prosecution in disclosing evidence to Mladic’s defence team, the New York Times reports.
The newspaper reported that Orie told the court he would try to set a new trial date as soon as possible. The announcement came just one day into the hearings, where prosecutors detailed how Mladic led Serbian troops into the Bosnian Muslim town of Srebrenica in 1995. Some 8,000 men and boys were killed there in the attack. The massacre is thought to be the worst atrocity committed in Europe since the end of the Second World War.
Prosecutor Peter McCloskey earlier told the court that his case wouldn’t be about whether or not the crimes were committed, which he said is not a matter of dispute, but about pinning responsibility for them on one individual. “We have video of two of the actual executions themselves. So let me be perfectly clear, the crime will not be the main focus of this prosecution. This case will be primarily about one issue. The individual criminal responsibility of Ratko Mladic,” he said, quoted by the BBC.
Mladic faces 11 charges before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.