“Mladić’s arrest technical issue”

Ratko Mladic's arrest is no longer called into question and it is now a purely technical issue, said Rasim Ljajic. Head of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal Rasim Ljajic told Sarajevo-based daily Dnevni Avaz that a political decision on the issue of Mladic's arrest was clear and that the issue was now purely technical. He added, however, that it was obviously not easy to perform the arrest. “Mladic’s arrest technical issue” Ljajic said he did not expect that the increase of the reward for information about the Hague fugitive from EUR 1mn to EUR 10mn would lead to the arrest of the wartime commander of the Army of Republic of Srpska (RS). “To be honest, I do not expect that someone who is aware of Mladic's whereabouts and who did not reveal the information for one million, would ever decide to do that, even for 10 millions. The decision to increase the reward was motivated primarily by the desire to show political commitment and create an environment that is needed to complete the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal,” stressed the head of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal. When asked about the time frame in which the arrest might possibly take place, he said that it was futile to speak about that and that last year's great effort to that end unfortunately had not paid off. According to him, people who are hiding Mladic are doing this because of their beliefs and ideals, and not because of some personal benefit they might attain. He added that he was positive that the number of persons involved in his hiding did not exceed five people, just like in the case of Radovan Karadzic, when only four men knew about his change of identity. He is of the opinion that Mladic's way of hiding is completely different than Karadzic's and that the former RS army commander has not changed his identity. Ljajic pointed out that there were no indications, even the smallest, that Mladic was dead. “If we knew about Mladic's exact whereabouts, we would already have arrested him. We are doing everything assuming he is in Serbia. There are no clues that he might be hiding abroad. We know that he was in Russia in 1996, and that he returned in March 1997. After that, he only left Serbia in July 1998, when he spent the summer in Montenegro,” Ljajic underlined. Rasim Ljajic (Tanjug, file)

“Mladić’s arrest technical issue”

Ljajić said he did not expect that the increase of the reward for information about the Hague fugitive from EUR 1mn to EUR 10mn would lead to the arrest of the wartime commander of the Army of Republic of Srpska (RS).

“To be honest, I do not expect that someone who is aware of Mladić's whereabouts and who did not reveal the information for one million, would ever decide to do that, even for 10 millions. The decision to increase the reward was motivated primarily by the desire to show political commitment and create an environment that is needed to complete the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal,” stressed the head of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.

When asked about the time frame in which the arrest might possibly take place, he said that it was futile to speak about that and that last year's great effort to that end unfortunately had not paid off.

According to him, people who are hiding Mladić are doing this because of their beliefs and ideals, and not because of some personal benefit they might attain.

He added that he was positive that the number of persons involved in his hiding did not exceed five people, just like in the case of Radovan Karadžić, when only four men knew about his change of identity.

He is of the opinion that Mladić's way of hiding is completely different than Karadžić's and that the former RS army commander has not changed his identity.

Ljajić pointed out that there were no indications, even the smallest, that Mladić was dead.

“If we knew about Mladić's exact whereabouts, we would already have arrested him. We are doing everything assuming he is in Serbia. There are no clues that he might be hiding abroad. We know that he was in Russia in 1996, and that he returned in March 1997. After that, he only left Serbia in July 1998, when he spent the summer in Montenegro,” Ljajić underlined.