Mladic threatens hunger strike if rights not observed

Mladic, 68, is standing trial in The Hague on charges of ordering the genocide of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims during the 1992-95 Bosnian War.

Belgrade: Jailed former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic has threatened to go on hunger strike if he continues to be denied medical treatment and visits from his lawyer and family, Serbian newspaper Blic said Monday.

Mladic, 68, is standing trial in The Hague on charges of ordering the genocide of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims during the 1992-95 Bosnian War. He was arrested in Serbia May 26 after 16 years on the run.

"I made a mistake by not killing myself," the paper quoted Mladic as saying. "But since I am here, I demand that you provide me with adequate medical care and a lawyer and allow my family to visit me. If not, I shall stop taking the medication I have with me as well as the food you are bringing to me."

Mladic was transferred from a prison hospital to a cell Sunday, his lawyer Milos Saljic said.

Saljic has said Mladic is so sick he may not live to see the start of his trial.

IANS

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