Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general, was bundled onto a plane in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, late on Tuesday afternoon to face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for his part in the savage ethnic cleansing campaigns of the 1992-95 Bosnia war.

Mladic’s lawyer had tried to prevent his transfer on the grounds that the one-time military commander, 69, had suffered at least two strokes and was too mentally clouded to stand trial. But prosecutors dismissed the argument as a delaying tactic, and judges dismissed the appeal soon after receiving it on Tuesday.

His extradition, just hours later, showed the Serbian government’s eagerness to get Mladic out of the headlines and out of its hair. While much of the West hailed his capture last week, many Serbs still lionize Mladic as a hero, with thousands of protesters turning out in Belgrade over the weekend to denounce his arrest. Thousands more gathered on Tuesday in the town of Banja Luka in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina to voice support for Mladic, The Associated Press reported.

Mladic was in charge of the troops who overran the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995 and rounded up 8,000 Muslim men and boys for execution in the space of a few days. He is also accused of war crimes in connection with the siege of Sarajevo, which was mercilessly shelled and fired on for nearly four years, resulting in the deaths of 10,000 people.

His arrest was a key demand by Western governments and the European Union, which made it a precondition for Serbia’s application to join the 27-nation bloc.

At The Hague, Mladic joins his former boss, Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, who was arrested three years ago and is already on trial on similar charges.
Analysts say it’s possible that proceedings against Mladic will piggyback onto Karadzic’s trial in order to expedite matters.

(Los Angeles Times)