Serbian plan to capture war crimes fugitive in effect
Serbia has stepped up efforts to capture war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic by putting into effect a secret government plan to arrest him, the interior minister said today.
Interior Minister Dragan Jocic, who is in charge of the police, said the plan’s measures were launched yesterday.
He did not specify details of the plan – declared a state secret – to arrest the wartime Bosnian Serb army commander, who has been on the run since he was indicted by a UN war crimes tribunal in July 1995 for genocide during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war.
Jocic said the obligation to co-operate with the UN tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, by capturing Mladic was “also our obligation toward this state and its people”.
Mladic and wartime Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic have been charged with genocide. The charges against Mladic relate to his part in the Srebrenica massacre of about 8,000 Bosnian men and boys and for a three-year armed siege of Bosnia’s capital Sarajevo by his troops. Karadzic is believed hiding in the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia.
According to recent media reports, Mladic was hiding in Serbian capital Belgrade until January this year. Hardliners in Serbia’s security force are believed to be sheltering him.
Earlier this month, the European Union welcomed the plan to catch Mladic, but stopped short of committing itself to resume crucial pre-membership negotiations suspended in May because of Belgrade’s failure to track him down.
An agreement on Serbia’s association with the EU is seen by the government as a way of kick-starting economic reforms and avoiding defeat in upcoming elections.
Serbian officials have said that Mladic must be arrested by September - or attempts to capture him must be documented to show the EU they are genuine – if the country wants to continue the talks.
