Ratko Mladic in the courtroom

After a recent thorough investigation into Ratko Mladic’s financial status, the Tribunal’s Registry has determined that Ratko Mladic is able to pay exactly 60,992 euro to his defense. At the same time, the Registry appointed Branko Lukic and Miodrag Stojanovic, who had until now been Mladic’s current temporary counsels, as his ‘permanent’ defense team members, because the issue of their fees has been resolved.

The exact amount Mladic has to pay to his defense team was established after an investigation that ascertained the accused’s income and property and assessed the living expenses of the accused and his family. It was determined that the accused and his wife received regular monthly pensions. The value of the family home in excess of the reasonable needs of the household members was taken into account, as was the money in the accused’s bank account at the UN Detention Unit in Scheveningen. Reasonable living expenses of Mladic and his wife were subtracted from the sum, leaving the amount of 60,992 euro. The Tribunal will cover other defense costs: that amount will far exceed the part to be paid by Mladic.

General Mladic is the third accused in The Hague in the past six months to be told he has enough funds to at least partly cover the costs of his defense before the Tribunal. Former Republika Srpska president Radovan Karadzic has already been ordered to participate to the tune of 146,501 euro. The absolute record in terms of the amount owed to the Tribunal’s Registry is held by Slobodan Praljak. After an investigation of how much he owned, Praljak was ordered to pay back 3,3 million euro to the Registry: this is the amount paid in the eight years from the Tribunal’s legal aid fund to Praljak’s defense counsels. Both Praljak and Karadzic appealed against the Registry’s decision.

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