Ratko Mladic Begins Defense in Hague Court

Ratko Mladic, the former Serbian Army chief, has appeared in court on Monday to begin his defense on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Mladic is on trial at the international tribunal in the Hague, for allegedly ordering the mass killings of Muslim families in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, as well as crimes in seven other municipalities.

The first of 336 witnesses to be called up was Mile Sladoje, a former army officer, who denied being ordered to target civilians in Sarajevo, Balkan Insight revealed.

Mladic was arrested in 2011, after 16 years on the run. He has repeatedly denounced the Hague tribunal as illegitimate and only serving to prosecute Serbs.

Earlier this year, Ratko Mladic refused to testify in the case against another high-profile figure, the ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, in order not to influence his own trial.