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Ratko Mladic`s trial halted because of his health
Ratko Mladic was still undergoing medical tests after being rushed to hospital a day earlier.
The Hague: Ratko Mladic’s genocide trial was halted on Friday for the second day running because the former Bosnian Serb military commander was still undergoing medical tests after being rushed to hospital a day earlier.
Mladic`s seat in the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal courtroom was empty on Friday morning as the trial briefly resumed and presiding Judge Alphons Orie said Mladic was still undergoing a test that required him to be under observation for 24 hours. Mladic`s lawyer said he initially feared the 70-year-old former general had suffered a stroke when he complained of feeling ill in court on Thursday, but that tests had ruled that out.
"Now we think either it`s a high level of sugar in his blood or high blood pressure, since he had both higher than normal yesterday," Branko Lukic told reporters outside the courtroom. "We are hopeful that we will continue on Monday."
However, Lukic warned that Mladic`s frail health could be imperilled by his trial and hinted he would apply to further reduce the time he spends in court each week.
The complex trial, covering atrocities spanning the entire 1992-1995 Bosnian war that left 100,000 people dead, already is expected to last years and has so far had sittings scheduled for only one morning or afternoon session per day. "There is some kind of recommendation from the medical staff as well that he should have more rest during the day and we think we should have less working days during the week as well," Lukic said. "It is too much for him. It`s not only sitting and listening, it`s stressful too. Obviously it did affect him."
Lukic`s concerns raise the spectre of the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Miloševic, which had to be aborted without a verdict when he died in his cell of a heart attack in 2006.
Milosevic`s trial dragged on for four years in part because of his ill health repeatedly holding up proceedings.
Mladic also has suffered from poor health during his 16 years as a fugitive from international justice and since his arrest last year and transfer to a cell in The Hague.
Since arriving in the Netherlands, Mladic has undergone surgery for a hernia and been treated for other ailments including a kidney stone and pneumonia.
PTI
Mladic`s seat in the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal courtroom was empty on Friday morning as the trial briefly resumed and presiding Judge Alphons Orie said Mladic was still undergoing a test that required him to be under observation for 24 hours. Mladic`s lawyer said he initially feared the 70-year-old former general had suffered a stroke when he complained of feeling ill in court on Thursday, but that tests had ruled that out.
"Now we think either it`s a high level of sugar in his blood or high blood pressure, since he had both higher than normal yesterday," Branko Lukic told reporters outside the courtroom. "We are hopeful that we will continue on Monday."
However, Lukic warned that Mladic`s frail health could be imperilled by his trial and hinted he would apply to further reduce the time he spends in court each week.
The complex trial, covering atrocities spanning the entire 1992-1995 Bosnian war that left 100,000 people dead, already is expected to last years and has so far had sittings scheduled for only one morning or afternoon session per day. "There is some kind of recommendation from the medical staff as well that he should have more rest during the day and we think we should have less working days during the week as well," Lukic said. "It is too much for him. It`s not only sitting and listening, it`s stressful too. Obviously it did affect him."
Lukic`s concerns raise the spectre of the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Miloševic, which had to be aborted without a verdict when he died in his cell of a heart attack in 2006.
Milosevic`s trial dragged on for four years in part because of his ill health repeatedly holding up proceedings.
Mladic also has suffered from poor health during his 16 years as a fugitive from international justice and since his arrest last year and transfer to a cell in The Hague.
Since arriving in the Netherlands, Mladic has undergone surgery for a hernia and been treated for other ailments including a kidney stone and pneumonia.
PTI