One of the few journalists allowed to attend Ratko Mladic's hearing in The Hague, RTÉ's Europe Correspondent Paul Cunningham gives an account of the hearing.
The sign in the lobby of International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia says: ‘Bringing war criminals to justice. And justice to victims.’ Today justice was to begin to be served on Ratko Mladic, the head of Bosnian Serb military forces from mid-1992 until the end of 1996.
The journalists, lawyers and victims who were allowed to attend the hearing, gathered in the lobby around 9am. Shortly afterwards we were escorted upstairs to the public gallery. We were initially prevented from seeing the tribunal room by paper blinds draped across nine glass windows separating us from the court.
As the tension rose, a woman dressed in a black shirt, black trousers and wearing pearl earrings started to weep quietly in the chair behind me. Kadefa Rizvanovic had been forced from the town of Bratunac in 1992 by Bosnian Serb forces. As she tried to gather her composure, the flash of court photographers indicated that Mladic was taking his seat. The blinds were then drawn and the rectangular room was revealed. The three judges were sitting directly opposite the public gallery – Mladic sat to the left, with a security guard on either side of him.
Just like his first tribunal appearance, Mladic was wearing a hat. As he scanned the public gallery he raised his hat twice and smiled. Some of the Mothers of Srebrenica quietly cursed him. The presiding judge, Alphons Orie told him to stop communicating with the public, but the order was ignored as Mladic on another occasion gave a thumbs-up and broad grin to us. The former Bosnian Serb General’s demeanour said it all: he was slouched in the chair, ignoring the judges and constantly peering at the public gallery.
The judge asked him to remove his hat. Mladic took it off, asked a female guard to put on his headphones, and he then promptly put the hat back on his head. Clearly regarded as an affront to the dignity of the court, Judge Orie ordered: ‘Could Mr Mladic be assisted to taking off his cap.’ One of the security guards took the hat away. The hat may have gone but the defiance continued.
Mladic continued to interrupt the proceedings. He was granted three minutes to explain his legal position. Mladic wanted five minutes on account of being sick – ‘half my body is not working’, a reference to the impact of several strokes.
However the judge said Mladic had refused to hand over his medical records and the advice from the court’s medical officer found he was fit to plea. Mladic argued that his preferred lawyers, one from Serbia and another from Russia, were not in court. He said he didn’t want the court appointed lawyer to represent him and so the case should be adjourned. Judge Orie said he’d already been granted 30 days - an ample amount of time to enter a plea.
As the proceedings continued, the intensity rose. Mladic laughed as the judge explained the legal situation, then retorted: ‘you can do whatever you want.’ Judge Orie ordered him to ‘be silent.’ The hearing had arrived at the critical moment – when Mladic would be asked to enter a plea to the 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Judge Orie had only started on Court 1 – genocide – when Mladic shouted ‘No, don’t read to me – not a single word.’ Judge Orie said ‘Don’t interrupt’. Mladic responded ‘I have to.’ Judge Orie consulted with his two colleagues – he left his mike open, and so it was possible to hear them agree that Mladic would be given a ‘last chance’ to behave.
The warning had no effect. As another explanation was given from the bench, Mladic interrupted saying ‘no no, you are not right – you are wrong.’ As the indictment was read out again, Mladic now erupted ‘no, no, I'm not going to listen to this without my lawyer’. As he shouted, Mladic removed his headphones. He bellowed at judge Orie ‘Who are you? You're not allowing me to breathe.’
Now visibly angered and barking at the court officials, Mladic’s behaviour enraged the Mothers of Srebrenica. As the Bosnian Serb General snapped ‘You want to impose my defence – what kind of court are you?’. The survivors were also shouting that he was guilty of killing Muslims and should plead as such. The eight security officers in the public gallery began to move down towards the woman who were directing their anger at Mladic. Judge Orie ordered that Mladic was removed - something he had to say on several occasions to ensure he was heard. At the same time the paper blinds were being quickly lowered to enable Mladic be removed from the court, out of public view.
After a few moments, the blinds came back up. Judge Orie entered a not guilty plea to all 11 counts on Mladic’s behalf. The former Bosnian Serb General was already on his way back to prison.
Afterwards, I spoke with Kadefa Rizvanovic who was still emotional after the proceedings. She said she believed that Mladic was attempting to re-establish hate in the minds of younger Serbs, and she hoped they would ignore his pathetic performance. In a halting interview, she said that her husband had been killed by Bosnian Serb forces during the war. I asked of other family members – she paused and said it was too painful to count the number. The woman beside her said 22 male members of her family were killed in Srebrenica – the town in eastern Bosnia, which Bosnian Serb forces had over-run in July 1995. More than 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed over the following weeks. Ratko Mladic, the head of Bosnian Serb military forces, was on the ground in Srebrenica on the day the town fell.
