I'm gravely ill, Mladic tells court

Former Bosnian Serb military chief General Ratko Mladic told a United Nations war crimes court today that he is “a gravely ill man”.

He faces an 11-count indictment charging him with orchestrating the worst atrocities of a war that claimed 100,000 lives.

Asked by Presiding Judge Alphons Orie if he understood his rights as a suspect at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal at The Hague, Mladic said he was gravely ill and needed more time to understand the charges.

Mladic did not elaborate on his illness.

He told Judge Orie he did not want “a single letter or sentence” of his indictment to be read in court, and declined to enter a plea after the charges were read out to him.

Judge Orie nevertheless started reading a summary of the indictment.