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'Mladic had nothing to do with Srebrenica'

Published:Monday | May 30, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Bosnian Serbs holding photos of former General Ratko Mladic during a protest in Kalinovik, Bosnia, hometown of the Bosnian Serb wartime military leader, 70 kilometres southeast of Sarajevo, yesterday. Approximately 3,000 Bosnian Serbs, gathered to show support and anger after the arrest of Mladic. Protesters carried banners and flags and sang songs in his support. - Ap

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP):

Ratko Mladic - charged with genocide by a United Nations war crimes court - claims he did not order the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica when it fell during the 1992-1995 war, his son said yesterday.

The former Bosnian Serb army commander, known for his brutality during the war, insists that he was not responsible for the mass executions committed by his troops after they overran the eastern Bosnian enclave in July 1995, his son Darko Mladic said.

"Whatever was done in Srebrenica, he has nothing to do with it," Darko Mladic said.

The massacre in Srebrenica is considered to be Europe's worst atrocity since World War II. Bosnian Serb troops under Mladic's command rounded up the Srebrenica boys and men and executed them in just several days, burying the remains in mass graves in the area.

The UN tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, has indicted Mladic with genocide for the Srebrenica massacre and other atrocities of the Bosnian war. Prosecutors say they have compelling evidence that Mladic personally ordered and oversaw the executions in and around Srebrenica.

The son, Darko, says his father is adamant that the massacre was committed without his knowledge - something that prosecutors have argued is impossible because of the scope of the killings.

"His orders were to evacuate the wounded, the women and the children, and then the fighters. Whatever was done behind his back, he has nothing to do with that," Darko Mladic said.

The 69-year-old former general is being held in a Serbian jail after his arrest last week after 16 years on the run. He was indicted in 1995.

It was not clear when Mladic made the claims about Srebrenica, which his son described as his "general position."

Mladic's family and lawyers have been fighting extradition, arguing that the general is too ill to face charges.

Serbian authorities have stepped up security throughout the country ahead of an ultranationalist rally planned in central Belgrade on Sunday evening to protest Mladic's arrest.