FORMER Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic faced the UN war crimes tribunal yesterday as a defiant general who never lost a battle, denying the charges against him as “obnoxious” and “monstrous”.

Ratko Mladic’s lawyer says he has a document proving the war crimes suspect has been battling cancer and that he was treated at a Serbian hospital in 2009.

Former Bosnian Serb military chief General Ratko Mladic has been assigned a Serbian lawyer to represent him when he appears before United Nations judges for the first time to face 11 war crimes charges.