Serbia not to pay for Ratko Mladic’s defence at ICTY

Lawyers of former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, sued at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), will ask Serbia and Republika Srpska to pay for the defence.

Mladic’s lawyer Milos Salic remarked that the matter in point does not concern only the fees of the lawyers but also the processing of the evidence and the documents, which is done by a special team of experts.

Many Serbian emigrants have called and offered money, which led to the idea to establish a foundation for the financing of Mladic’s defence.

The governmental office for cooperation with the ICTY in Belgrade announced that so far some 21 people have received financial aid to defend themselves before the ICTY. A condition to get aid is for the defendant to surrender voluntarily.

In this case, however, Serbia will not finance Ratko Mladic’s defence.